"The 'plan', in so far as there is ANY plan, is to stretch this 'surge' until the elections, then let the Democrats take responsibility for the mess when we try to get out......and it will probably work."

Yup, you got that right, Bill. ;-) That's how party politics works. If it were the Democrats who got us into this war, as in Vietnam, it would be the same story...only the other way around. They would let the Republicans take responsibility for the mess after they got voted out, like they did in '68.

They can both be depended on to always blame the other one for whatever goes wrong. It's what they live to do, after all. They've been set up like two championship football teams to oppose one another in that fashion and keep the public amused (or infuriated?), while the League itself moves merrily on from season to season.

I'd be a fan...but I don't like football very much.