Iraqi kabuki dances

Bet most people think the "surge" in Afghanistan is a mirror image of a drawdown of forces in Iraq.

If only.

Meanwhile, the media continues to "report" (or is that assert?) the Administration is moving forward on its promise to remove all "combat forces" from Iraq by August 2010... except for 35,000 to 50,000 (i.e. about 1/3 of what's there now) who'll remain behind to "advise."

Our military is stretched beyond thin... it doesn't deserve these kinds of games, particularly when politics end up driving force deployment decisions that actually increase risk (i.e. sending a unit to a location other than the one they've spent 10 months preparing for).

Meanwhile, our leaders are finally concerned about all the narco-violence and increasing anarchy just across the very long, very open border between us and Mexico. Too bad a couple hundred thousand of our most experienced troops are half a world away, eh?