Today is the day.

I'm not sure it was such a good idea to make today such an important day. Liberals and conservatives alike have been waiting with baited breath to see what General Petraeus is going to say as he reports on the war in Iraq and the success of the surge. We already have a good idea of what he is going to say, and the media will be abuzz all day with further speculation and preliminary strikes. You can probably judge if politics are more important than the success of our troops or security of our country by which politicians try to short-circuit the process today and come out against General Petraeus' comments even before he has made them. MoveOn.org's ad calls him "General Betray Us"? Really? Does anyone take this group seriously? Amazing that an ad of that calibre makes it in the New York Times, while an ad supporting the troops and the war can't even be run on cable news. I don't know why I'm surprised... but I am.

The importance of today's speech by the General was a handout to everyone calling for a "timeline" or "deadline" in Iraq. You can't fight a war telegraphing to the enemy when you are going to pack up and go home... and anyone who has any political honesty knows that. Nonetheless, it has been politically advantageous to use that fact against the administration as some supposed-proof of "no plan". The administration theoretically bought some time a few months ago by setting this date as a quasi-deadline... although even that didn't stop the anti-war crowd from a constant drumbeat of surrender pleas. And now, this deadline that isn't really a deadline is upon us. Since the surge is working, I wonder if the administration will set a new deadline for another report and buy the troops some more time? If WE THE PEOPLE really trust the commanders more than Congress and the White House, shouldn't it be enough to silence the people clamoring for a pullout because the war isn't popular?

Only time will tell, but I doubt it. I think the war will do better in the polls, if only briefly. Within a few days everything will get back to normal, as Dianne Finestein, Harry Reid and their ilk attack General Petraeus as a man and continue their chorus of withdrawal, the General's comments not withstanding. Obama and Edwards will lash out too, because why not continue and score political points at the detriment of national security? And Hillary will carefully craft her message of support but not really, which will morph over the days back to pleas of troop withdrawal, the severity of which will only be tempered by the beliefs of whichever group she is appearing before.

And this day will be like any other day. With the troops fighting against an insurgency in Iraq, and fighting for their honor and the right to complete their job at home. Oh yes, they are fighting for the rest of us too... and our children... but somewhere along the way we have forgotten that.