Totten reports:
For the past two weeks I’ve been embedded with the United States Army in Baghdad, and I find myself unable to figure out what to make of this place. Baghdad, despite the remarkable success of the surge, is as mind-bogglingly run-down and dysfunctional as ever, even compared with other Arabic countries. Iraq is a dark place. At times it feels like a doomed country that has only been temporarily spared the reckoning that is coming. Other times it is possible to look past the grimness and see progress beyond the mere slackening off of violence and war. Is Iraq truly on the mend, or has a total breakdown been merely postponed? Opinions here among Americans and Iraqis are mixed, but nearly everyone seems to agree about one thing at least: terrorists and insurgents will respond with a surge of their own in the wake of the upcoming withdrawal of American forces.
I’ll place my bet that all the surge has done is postpone an inevitable "total breakdown." Obama’s biggest test will be resisting the temptation to stay once violence soars as US troops withdraw. But that’s what Clinton is for. She’s the armor on his vehicle out, and will provide the political cover for the necessary retreat.
The Dish 