Patreus will lie his ass off and paint a rosey picture of the Surge's success...with appropriate caveats so as not to strain credibility, of course.
Bush is already talking about troop reductions, which, of course, MUST happen soon to give the GOP a prayer in 2008.
Meanwhile, by every measure, Iraq has continued to deteriorate. I haven't checked this morning...does it still have a government?
The strategy? Why, the old "Mission Accomplished", of course. Declare success, walk away, journalists leave, the public breaths a long sigh of relief because we've long since stopped giving a shit anyway. Outta sight, outta mind.
Think Patreus is too much of a stand up guy? Well, so was Powell...we thought. After all, he works at the pleasure of the commander in chief...and an ambitious guy like that would certainly prefer to have 'success' written in the history books, accurately or not, rather than 'total fuck up'.
Personally, I'm for immediate withdrawal. Always have been. But Our Man George has always been for Success at Any Price. Stay tuned for the ultimate cynical curtain call from our most incompetent and corrupt administration ever.