3000 vs. The InDecider - Which will happen first?

[Yukari Yakumo]

The question is simple;
Which will happen first: Reaching the morbid milestone of 3,000 dead G.I.s or the InDecider making an official decision on the course of action for Iraq?

[chefgirl]

1. U.S. deaths in Iraq exceed 9-11 count

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
48 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061226/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military death toll in Iraq has reached 2,974, one more than the number of deaths in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, according to an Associated Press count on Tuesday.

The U.S. military announced the deaths of two soldiers in a bomb explosion southwest of Baghdad on Monday.

The deaths raised the number of troops killed to 2,974 since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks claimed 2,973 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.


-chef-

[GreenZoneLT]

2. He's already "decided"

The Iraqis have been leaking the deal they made with Gates. The Iraqis will deploy two new divisions to Baghdad. Along with U.S. forces, they will do a massive clear-and-search operation in the entire city, and confiscate ALL the weapons (including the one self-defense Kalashnikov per household previously guaranteed by the Iraqi NRA or somebody). U.S. forces will surge slightly, by extending some units and deploying others early, but nothing like the pipedream American Enterprise Institute numbers.

Once THIS fails to fix everything (expect them to figure this out by March or April), we'll start getting the hell out of here in an agonizingly slow fashion, and letting the Iraqis sort it out. Anybody remember Lebanon, circa 1983?