Also, upon reading some commentary about whether the debate may or may not happen - what the hell do people mean when they say the 'surge' in Iraq has been a success?

Seriously. I apparently need someone to sit down with me and explain what, exactly, success is in this context. (Because I've heard some theories about what's "working" and it's not really something we want to encourage. I assume.)

I grant it's ridiculous to begin with, since we're in a war against terror, and it's pretty hard to eradicate an emotion and I'm sure it's a lot harder to eradicate fear by shooting at people. But what do I know.