Six Months or Bust 
Jules Crittenden

UK Guardian, citing “former senior administration official” says the “Baghdad brain trust” of officers advising Petraeus gives the US in Iraq six months before the wheels fall off the cart:    

An elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus in Baghdad has concluded the US has six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat.

The officers - combat veterans who are leading experts in counter-insurgency - are charged with implementing the “new way forward” strategy announced by president George Bush on January 10. The plan includes a controversial “surge” of 21,500 additional American troops to establish security in the Iraqi capital and Anbar province.

But the team, known as the “Baghdad brains trust” and ensconced in the heavily fortified Green Zone around the US embassy, is struggling to overcome a range of entrenched problems ...

Good thing we’re winning. It’s a one-source gripefest based on the following assumptions, several of which are highly debatable:

The main obstacles confronting Gen Petraeus’s team are:
· Insufficent numbers of troops on the ground
· A “disintegrating” international coalition
· An anticipated upsurge in violence in the south as the British leave
· Morale problems as casualties rise
· A failure of political will in Washington and/or Baghdad

More troops is a good idea, however. Dem Cong? You’re up.

Background on the brain trust. ...