Inshallah

But if we change our way of doing business tactically, operationally, and psychologically—stop the arrest-and-release insanity, eliminate key militia leaders and disband their followers, expand the rules of engagement, accelerate cash payments for salaried Iraqis, patrol the borders, all while maintaining the veneer of Iraqi autonomy—even at this 11th hour we could entice the proverbial bystanders (a majority of the country) to cast their lot with the perceived winners: namely, us.

--Victor Davis Hanson

I hope Hanson is right, of course, and Petraeus does these things. Is it defeatist to say, "If my Grandma had wheels, she'd be a trolley car"?