9:52 a.m. Gen. Petraeus is up, gives his prepared statement. The real defeat, for us, in Iraq was going in. But we're not going to hear that from this 4-star general representing administration policy. Literally it's 8 stars, 4 on each shoulder. U.S. military uniforms are more ornate than they used to be. Listening to Gen. Petraeus, I cannot help wondering how he got his fourth star when the general I long ago knew best, a very highly qualified man, did not. But the question answers itself.

Parade magazine once ran an article, in my childhood, showing a historical pattern that researchers had noticed: The side wearing the more ornate uniforms tends to lose the war. So the photos showed Gen. Geo. Washington's relatively modest blue coat and knee breeches etc vis-a-vis your British flamboyant scarlet coat, plumed hat, epaulettes, the whole nine yards. Another pair of photos compared the U.S. Army uniform in WW2 to the more elaborate Third Reich get-up, ditto probably for WW1 under the Kaiser, tho I can't remember. The last set of photos--this was before the end of the Vietnam War--showed the richer U.S. uniform of that time, compared to the drab and poor looking Viet Cong. The article left that outcome up to the future.

Petraeus argues as expected that the situation in Iraq is better now than it was 6 months ago. Over-all, sectarian violence, or ethno-sectarian violence is down.

There are always grains of truth and sometimes more in these presentations, but they are so selective. Of course, some kinds of violence are down: The number of Iraqis is, tragically, "down." The number of Iraqis who have fled their homes and their home towns and even their country, on the other hand, is up. That whole 'question' of whether the surge has 'reduced violence' is raised on sand in the first place. The surge is violence.

Gen. Petraeus also brings in Iran, by the head and shoulders. What this administration never acknowledges that Iranians were among the Middle Easterners who by and large liked America. We cd still retrieve a lot of that now, too. We have many Iranian-Americans.

At about 10:20 a.m. Ryan Crocker begins speaking, also puts the best face on things he can.

One man yells, "Bring them home!" and is carried out by Hill security police, to applause.

Some faint glints of good news, perhaps. Crocker states that the Iraqi-U.S. negotiations now going on, under the current administration, "will not tie the hands of the next administration." If accurate, a great relief.

Crocker also says unequivocally, "The era of U.S.-funded major infrastructure projects is over."

Presumably any U.S. firms wishing to work in Iraqi oil fields will now have to negotiate directly with the Iraqis. Shd be less of a stretch for Halliburton, now that it has relocated its headquarters to the Middle East. Interesting how little that item has arisen in the presidential campaign here at home, btw.