Swamp Gas, September 10, 2007

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker's testimony on Iraq's progress or lack of it may eventually have more lasting impact than the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus since the Iraqi government's failure to reach political reconciliation could ultimately thwart all U.S. efforts to leave a self-sustaining government.

While a lot of attention is being placed on Gen. David Petraeus's testimony today, the real drama is likely to play out in the week's after his appearance as Democrats and some many military experts say the surge can't be sustained past April while President Bush resists the setting of timelines.

Despite their best efforts, Democrats have not been successful at forcing a single major change in U.S. policy in Iraq.

Gen. David Petraeus has recommended that President Bush refrain from any significant reductions in U.S. military forces in Iraq for at least six months, though a combat brigade of about 4,000 soldiers could be sent home in mid-December.

A new poll indicated Americans trusted U.S. military leaders more than President Bush or Congress to bring a successful end to the Iraq War, with most of those surveyed saying they supported a measure withdrawal from Iraq beginning next year.

The U.S. troops fighting the counterinsurgency in Iraq are too consumed by the daily task of staying alive and trying to bring a measure of stability to the Baghdad neighborhoods they patrol to join the debate back home over the surge strategy.

President Bush's homeland-security advisor, Frances Townsend, appeared to taunt Osama bin Laden, calling him "virtually impotent" during Sunday talk show interviews that took place just ahead of the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

Psychological researchers reported finding evidence bound to be controversial that an individual's tendency to be conservative or liberal may be hard-wired into the brain with conservatives being less flexible than liberals who are possibly more indecisive than conservatives.

Democratic candidates held their first debate for a largely Hispanic audience on Univision, the Spanish-language cable channel, focusing on immigration reform and relations with Latin America, including the controversial leaders Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.