August 25, 2007 (LPAC)--In the rush to set the stage for the post-Labor Day report by Gen. David Petreus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker to the U.S. Congress on the political and military success of the "surge" of American forces in Iraq, President Bush has ignored three unpleasant facts. Washington sources report that the White House goes livid when these issues are brought up. In addition, high level retired policy officials warn that Iraq could become "Dunkirk in the Desert" if the administration doesn't face the reality that withdrawing from Iraq is the only possibility for peace.

First, from the outset, the President and his top advisors emphasized that the purpose of the surge was to create space for the Iraqi's to resolve political differences and pave the way for an American military withdrawal. In that most fundamental regard, the surge failed--miserably. Second, the ouster of the current Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, would not be a sign of political success or progress; but that is exactly what the Bush Administration, in concert with the British, is now trying to pull off. Third, the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq, which warned about the dangers of a premature withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, never took up the question of the consequences of keeping the American forces in Iraq for an indefinite period of time--the policy that President Bush recently announced.