Did anyone else notice that late last week it was reported that the head of the CIA, Michael Hayden, had said "the inability of the [Iraq] government to govern seems irreversible," and that he could not "point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around"...?

Given these words from the top guy at the CIA, can someone remind me again what hope Bush is clinging to at this point? How many of our soldiers must die chasing an illusory objective that Hayden appears to regard as forever unattainable? Madness.