Seems like the White House is still using the same arithmetic.
"We'll look at the circumstances and assess," said U.S. Iraq Ambassador Stephen Crocker speaking "battlefield geometry" and "political-military calculus."
Yet yesterday, with General Petraeus or Crocker unable to define success to senators, Sen. John McCain said it all added up to mean that "success is within reach."
If General Petreaus or the White House cannot even determine what success is, how does McCain know it's in reach?
Perhaps he's using the well-worn Republican abacus.
Last time the voters bought this illogic, it added up to nearly eight years of devastation.
The only hard facts that have come from the hearing came from Crocker who said that "Almost everything about Iraq is hard." Last September he said, "Iraq is hard, and reconciliation is hard."
That doesn't define success, folks. That only means that Iraq's the one place that doesn't need Viagra.
And if it lasts longer than five years, don't call your doctor...call your Congressman.
Award-winning television writer and author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful," Steve Young' s "All The News That's Fit To Spoof" appears in L.A. Daily News opeds every Sunday on the same page with Bill O'Reilly's...really.