And all this is for.......

Petraeus has eclipsed Crocker, that was always the White House plan, but in reality, this is what matters.

The debate in Washington over troop numbers is intense. But in Baghdad, there's been little sense of alarm or urgency among the Iraqi politicians who would have the most to lose if the United States decides to begin a major pull back.

Both Sunni and Shiite leaders have been largely convinced for weeks that President Bush would press to keep forces in Iraq until he turns the White House over to a successor....

But the signals this week of just modest troop withdrawals ahead — perhaps back to pre-surge levels of about 130,000 — mean the Shiite-led government feels little pressure to accelerate work toward true political reconciliation.

Instead, they are focusing their energy on shoring up their positions: outflanking political challengers, leaning on more-radical Shiite factions to behave and flirting with Sunni sheiks to build personal alliances.

That's the bottom line, isn't it? The Shia are winning in the current status quo and have little need for reconciliation.

(By the way, this "Petraeus wants to be President" piece is likely to get big play, but notice the single source for this credibility sapping anecdote is an SIIC power man at the Interior Ministry who just happens to mention this in the middle of Petraeus' PR.)