TEH SURGE WAS NOT SO GREAT

This is from an insider who was a former adviser to Petraeus.

Analysis: Pentagon Brass Split on Troops
By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 57 minutes ago

Stephen Biddle, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations who has served as an adviser to Petraeus, said in a telephone interview Thursday that he hopes Bush decides to slow down the withdrawal.

"In general, slower is better, subject to the constraint that you not break the military," Biddle said. "The problem here is that a lot of the violence reduction (in 2007) is attributable to voluntary cease-fires, and if they stopped shooting voluntarily they could start shooting again just as voluntarily."