Petraeus admits the "surge" has failed

From the Washington Post:

BAGHDAD, March 13 -- Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday.

Petraeus, who is preparing to testify to Congress next month on the Iraq war, said in an interview that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments "feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation," or in the provision of basic public services.

[Emphasis mine]

h/t to Atrios

Did anyone in their right mind actually think the Iraqis were going to be both able and willing to to pull it together during a period of reduced violence? (And the reduction in violence had multiple causes, not just more US troops on the ground. Many of the quietest areas where were our troops were NOT. Sadr's call for holding off on violence had a lot to do with it. Then again, we have seen that things are still incredibly violent and out of control, even if there was a brief downturn.)

So, how many more Friedman Units (FU) do we need? John McCain's hundred years?

We have sown the wind.
--the BB