Phenomenal progress!

"According to some, we should fire you," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Leghumper) told Gen Petraeus during yesterday's hearings into the glorious surge. "It sounds like really nothing good has happened in the last year and this is a hopeless endeavor. Well, I beg to differ."

Oh really. “After all we have done, the Iraqi government kisses the Iranian leader,” Senator Boxer (D-CA) said. “Our president has to sneak into the country.”

Hmmmmmm, let's see... what else...

Stepped-up attacks on what used to be the only safe place in the country -- the highly-fortified Green Zone -- have resulted in heightened security precautions for U.S. embassy officials, including sleeping in their offices and not venturing outside without flak jackets, protective eyewear, and helmets.

43% of the Iraqi population lives in absolute poverty

Prior to the war 19% of children suffered malnutrition; today 28%

Last year 75% elementary-aged kids went to school; now 30%

Prior to the war 50% lacked access to clean water; now 70%

Only 50 of 142 primary health care centers are open to public
(Via C&L)

"The major media in this country have also, I think, failed to report a lot about what’s going in Iraq. True, there have been drops in violence, but they didn’t look at what the consequences of that were, and they didn’t look at the politics of that. If they had looked at the politics they’d see more fragmentation, a weaker government and a much more hopeless situation than a year ago.” -- former Director of the NSA and retired Lt. General William Odom.

More of today's headlines:

Baghdad anniversary curfew fails to stop violence

Mortars hit Baghdad on 5th anniversary, at least a dozen killed

Baghdad's Green Zone hit again

But other than that, it's great!