YUP, ANOTHER "TURNING POINT"

We've been told many times that we were at a turning point in Iraq and SECDEF Gates, in his prepared testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, tells us that we're at another one:

This is, I think, the pivot point in Iraq as the Iraqi government insists on assuming the mantle of leadership in the effort to regain control of its own capital.

Gates then seems to commit himself to a timetable of sorts:

Above all, I want you to know that the timetable for the introduction of additional U.S. forces will provide ample opportunity early on – and before many of the additional U.S. troops arrive in Iraq – to evaluate the progress of this endeavor and whether the Iraqis are fulfilling their commitments to us.

In his testimony to the Senators, Gates gives the impression that we will know in a few months:

ROBERT GATES, U.S. Defense Secretary: One brigade will go in the middle of this month. A second brigade won`t go until the middle of next month. And then they will flow at roughly monthly intervals.

So that, after we have sent in just two or three of the brigades, I think we will have -- before we have sent in very many additional American troops, we will have a pretty good idea whether, at least on the military side, the Iraqis have stepped up to the plate in terms of fulfilling their commitments.

SOURCE: The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 1/12/07

Finally, we get a little truth from Gates:

Overcoming the challenges in Iraq cannot be achieved simply by military means – no matter how large or sustained – without progress by the Iraqis in addressing the underlying issues dividing that country.