OP-ED: 'The Partitioning of Iraq,' By Charles Krauthammer, New York Times, September 7, 2007

Another good piece on the reality of the soft partition. In this one, you basically get the argument that the surge to date has been mostly about settling the Sunni region and Baghdad, whereas now Petraeus basically hopes to do an American do-over vis-a-vis the Shia over the next six months.

That's going to be trickier because of the Iranian tie-in, so it'll be interesting to see how the Congress and the public acquiesce in the surge's next stage, seeing that it ups the potential for conflict with Iran just as our troops pass what most experts see as the breaking point on rotations.

Do I think this administration is still looking for war with Iran?

I think they'll take what they can get.

I may think any extension of the surge rules out a serious intervention, but I'm not Dick Cheney.

(Thanks: Michael Bussio)