Elephant in the Room: Iraq Hearings

Interesting and informative liveblogging of the Petreaus and Crocker testimony at Democracy Arsenal. A deceptively simple but incisive point:

Petraeus and Crocker have no problems projecting out the potential implications of leaving Iraq - but they refuse to make projections of what staying will look like.

The NY Times is keeping a more straightforward account at The Lede, though it is not without an appreciation for understatement:

Changing the subject, Mr. Levin asked him about the Iraqi government's Basra operation. At that point, he received a firm if diplomatic answer. The operation, Mr. Petraeus conceded, was “not adequately planned and prepared.”