Situation called dire in Anbar

Wow. This isn't a particularly surprising assessment if you've been watching the stalemate in Anbar for the past three years, but what does it say when the leaders no longer think they can win?

The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western al Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents.....

Devlin offers a series of reasons for the situation, including a lack of U.S. and Iraqi troops, a problem that has dogged commanders since the fall of Baghdad more than three years ago, said people who have read it.....

(By the way, what happened to when the generals on the ground ask for more troops......?)

Also, the NYTimes has a piece on the parliamentary standoff over the "federalism" legislation suggesting that it could well lead to the dissolution of the unity government.