Why the surge isn't working

As you may recall, the whole point of the Bush troop escalation was to vindicate the belief that you need military security first in order to achieve political progress.  Many leading military experts disagreed.  Still, Bush went ahead with the surge anyway.

More than 6 months since the troop build-up was complete, the military progress has yet to result in political stability, as reported this morning in the Washington Post:

In more than a dozen interviews, U.S. Military officials expressed growing concern over the Iraqi government's failureto capitalize on sharp declines in attacks against U.S. troops andIraqi civilians. A window of opportunity has opened for the governmentto reach out to its former foes, said Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno , the commander of day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, but "it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."

The lack of political progress calls into question the core rationale behind the troop buildup President Bush announced in January, which was premised on the notion that improvedsecurity would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new power-sharingarrangements.

And now to the most disturbing part of all:

And what if there is no such breakthrough by next summer?"If that doesn't happen," Odierno said, "we're going to have to reviewour strategy."

Review it next summer?  Of course.  That is code for an even larger surge if by next summer no such political reconciliation happens.  And then if that doesn't work, they will review it again at the end of Bush's term. 

Bush's so-called "surge strategy" should be renamed the "buying time strategy."  Bush wants to go down in history as a defiant leader -- even though historians probably will not look at it that way.  Nonetheless, that is what Bush wants.  He has to survive 13 more months without Congress pulling the chord on war funding.