The fact that Petraues "is well-regarded by military officials for his political skills in Iraq and at home" isn't good. Generals should carry out orders, not come home to politic on behalf of a president's policy as Petraeus did this summer.

There's reasons the counter insurgency lessons of the Vietnam War were abandoned and we never developed a occupation plan for hostile nations. No military officials ever thought our civilian leaders would be dumb enough to engage in these kind of wars again and we've never aspired to be a imperial power.

The British have a long history of such operations and they know their presence in Basra was counter productive. It's way past time we took a few lessons from them. Arming all sides to the teeth, paying Sunni Insurgents $300 a month each to stand down isn't a strategy for success. It just guarantees all hell will break loose when we leave.

Ann Scott Tyson of the Washington Post reports today (Petraeus Helping Pick New Generals) that, in a move described as “unprecedented”, the US Army has recalled a general from a war zone to preside over a promotion board.

The Army has summoned the...