Good news is offset by bad (01/04/08)

It's one of those good news/not-so-good news situations.

The good news is that the Bush administration's "surge" of troop strength in Iraq seems to have gone a long way in stabilizing that train wreck of a nation.

The not-so-good news is that the political situation - specifically efforts to establish a national government - isn't much better than before the surge began.

And there's reason to suspect that if troop levels were suddenly reduced, the country could revert to chaos quickly.

For Americans, weary of the cost in terms of human life and national treasure, the situation has become endlessly frustrating.

Military successes continue to be chalked up, but political failures on the part of the Iraqis continue to add up as well. And it's been clear for some time that the political side of the equation is critical.

Without it, military action becomes a costly exercise in buying time.

The message that doesn't seem to be getting through to the Iraqi leadership is that while American patience is great, it is not infinite. Time has been bought, but the Iraqi government hasn't made good use of it. - J.R.

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