Can I just take a step back and ask, what was the STATED purpose of the surge?

I thought the purpose of the surge was to provide a mark increase in the number of troops in Baghdad in order to beat back the insurgency there and give the government a chance to strengthen and take over.

Wasn't the surge centered on Bag dad and not a country wide effort?

Wasn't the surge a show of force to give the government time to stabilize and be a government?

Wasn't the surge of troops giving the government time to stabilize and take hold a step to reducing troops and getting the heck out of there?

It seems pretty clear to me that although the US forces surged, and did their part - the government is about to crumble - so how can the surge be deemed anything but a failure because it did not have the desired effect?

I have heard conservative radio hosts and TV commentators spin, and seen articles which discuss the surge success -- all seem to be blurring the truth about the purpose of the surge - redefining what the surge was, what it was intended to do, in order to show it was success or at least not a total failure.

Edit to add - stated purpose of the surge in the title. I appreciate all of the responses - I am interested in quotes and other statements from the administration regarding its stated purpose for the surge. My point is that they are changing what the stated purpose of the surge was - now they want to say the violence has reduced - and therefore the surge is successful My point is that the surge goal was not simply to reduce violence - it was to get the government going. Measured under that standard, the surge is a failure. We are being sold a bill of goods now about the purpose of the surge - I want to compare what they said then (before the surge) to what has happened.

to send US troops to replace the foreign troops being withdrawn by the other members of the so-called "coalition". We're on our own now, and the lying criminal Bush Administration found a way to lie to Americans again.

and you are actually thinking and remembering back more than minutues ago. What is the matter with you? Why do you have our freedoms?:sarcasm:

didn't run it pass the real military (this excludes Petreus, he knew it would fail he just didn't say anything)This has Rove and Cheney all over it.

I would think that if they Surged in Baghdad that 1 of 2 things would happen....it would draw the insurgents out in greater numbers to fight in Baghdad or the insurgents move out to the other cities and wreak havoc ....both options very bad.

and to prop up some miserable loser's ego. Actually, several miserable losers. And the oil. It's always and ever about the oil.

Big Oil was worried that the new Democratic majority in Congress coupled with strong voter sentiment against the war and occupation was going to force him to withdraw before he could force the Maliki government to pass the Oil Law. The surge had nothing to do with battlefield tactics; it was always about buying bush more time.

And, yes, the surge has failed. So far, anyway. It's really not clear what will happen with the great theft of oil. Notice, with only one or two exceptions, that even the Democrats have remained silent on the theft of Iraqi oil. How sad is that?

and a reflection of an internal division in the Administration that seldom gets discussed. Rumsfeld's plan (that wasn't a plan) failed, the spin and the military leadership replacements (some due to disagreement with Rumsfeld) failed, the polling (which they claim to ignore) was clear, and the reality in Iraq was a disaster.

I'd bet some in the Administration are scrambling to find a way out, even as the purported Commander-in-Chief stonewalls the world.

distract from Libby, from Rove, from attorneys, from the new democratic majority, from the first 100 days, from the minimum wage, from domestic surveilance...

You get the idea.

More money to put in the pockets of Halliburton/KBR/Blackwater, and other private companies.

edit to add - not exactly the stated purpose, but most people see that it's a big part of the surge.

people will subconsciously connect them.

IMO - the surge flopped as a military action. But it looks like the repukes may pull off a political success by lying and getting the dems to go along with them.