On 1/10/07, Bush went on TV to announce his rejection of the recommendations of James Baker's Iraq Study Group, which included troop reductions, and his decision to send another 20,000+ troops - the defiant escalation that the media blandly called "the surge."

Everyone assumed the "surge" was a temporary effort to reduce bloody violence so Iraq's government could overcome its deep sectarian differences - in other words, "breathing space."

daily life will improve, Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders, and the government will have the breathing space it needs to make progress in other critical areas. Most of Iraq's Sunni and Shia want to live together in peace -- and reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible.

In a rare press conference on 4/3/07, Bush gave the same explanation:

The solution to Iraq — an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself — is more than a military mission. Precisely the reason why I sent more troops into Baghdad. [Bush later argued that sending more U.S. troops provides] some breathing space for this democratically elected government to succeed.

So how come the Corporate Media isn't reporting the critical fact that Maliki's government has effectively collapsed?

Al-Arabiya is reporting that the emergency political summit of Iraq's leaders has failed to produce even nominal political reconciliation.   This is a devastating outcome for the Maliki government and for those Americans who hoped to have some political progress to show in the upcoming Crocker/Petraeus report.  There's no other way to spin this:  this summit was billed as the last chance, and it has failed.

The goal of the summit was to bring alienated Sunnis back into Maliki's government. The result was the opposite - forming a sectarian Shia-Kurd government and alienating Sunnis completely.

Instead, Talabani announced the formation of a new four party coalition in support of the current government without any Sunni representation.  What's left is a government stripped to its sectarian base -  the two Kurdish parties and the two major Shia parties - and a world of political hurt.

Everyone in Washington - including the Corporate Media and the Democrats - is waiting for General Petraeus to give a military report. (Of course we now know for sure that Dick Cheney will be writing the "Petraeus" report, which is why a majority of Americans already know it will be bogus.) But Bush made it crystal clear a military victory wasn't the goal - it was just to reduce sectarian violence to create "breathing space" for sectarian political reconciliation.

Now that this political reconciliation has failed - worse, has backfired and only made things worse - why does anyone in Washington even care what the "Petraeus" report says?

Even without any reporting on Iraq's disastrous political summit, an overwhelming 69%-26% majority of Americans have figured out Iraq's government isn't making progress.

It's time for Congress to end the Iraq debacle. Tell your Representative to join the 70 Members who told George Bush they will only give him the money he needs to bring our troops safely home.

Update 1: The U.S. expert on Iraqi politics is Amb. Ryan Crocker, so his report to Congress on 9/15 will be more important than Petraeus' military report. And what is Crocker's current assessment?

He said the U.S. military buildup, which has succeeded in reducing sectarian violence, and new alliances formed with Sunni Arab sheikhs that have pacified volatile Anbar province had brought Maliki's government to a cross-roads.

"This is the best chance they have had since the beginning of 2006. It is an opportunity to really start turning things around in this country. But they are going to have to move in a decisive, considered and comprehensive way."

But they already moved - in exactly the wrong direction by further alienating Sunnis from the Maliki government. Is anyone going to hold Crocker accountable for lying on 9/15?