The real reason the surge failed.

[Ravy]

The surge was designed to improve the security of Iraq to give the Iraq government the "breathing room" to get its act together.

Most Democrats are concentrating on disputing the fact that the surge really provided the security it intended.

I feel it is counter-productive to argue whether the surge provided the security necessary. The real point is that the Iraq government did not take advantage of the additional security to significantly strengthen its ability to govern.

Arguing that the surge did not provide the security to meet that end leads to essentially two positions: a. get out because we cannot provide the security necessary, or b. give it more time to allow us to increase the security to a satisfactory level to meet the objective.

However, imho, the *real* point is that increasing security is highly unlikely to produce the effect for which the increased security was intended. *That* is the real failure of the policy. The Iraq government used what "breathing room" it had to go on a two-month vacation, and has made no significant progress in unifying the country or advancing its ability to govern.

"We succeeded. They didn't. Bring 'em home." is an argument short enough for even die-hard Republicans to understand.