"The surge isn't going on forever"

From Forward Operating Base Hammer, a sprawling military base 30 miles east of Baghdad, Col. Wayne Grigsby, of Prince George's County, Md., the brigade's commander notes:

• "The surge isn't going on forever, so who's going to take our place?" Grigsby asked. "The key is the Iraqi security forces; that is the key. We've worked our butts off up here and lost some great soldiers. At some point, they've got to bring it so they can live in a peaceful nation." ("South of Baghdad, U.S. troops find fatigue, frustration," By Chris Collins | McClatchy Newspapers, Thursday, August 30, 2007)

Discussion of Katie Couric's reporting from Iraq on Think Progress includes ire from some that she is not more outspoken against the war. I noted, however, the following:

• given the number of journalists who blithely repeat that O’Hanlon and Pollack were “war critics,” and who never mention that their “inside” reporting is based on a military dog-and-pony show, Katie Couric is to be congratulated not condemned for noting the strictures under which reporting is done in Iraq. I think it important that her words suggest a preparation of mainstream America for the obvious, that the American military can “win” the surge in specific, contained time and place–that, of course, a well-armed military can defeat insurgents here and there, forever–but that it cannot provide peace. The Iraqis know this, the troops on the ground know this, and, slowly, the American public know this. That leaves, uh, the folks in charge. Ms. Couric is not the enemy on this one, folks.