According to this Colonel we have lost Anbar in the western part of Iraq.

The political and security situation in western Iraq is grim and will continue to deteriorate unless the region receives a major infusion of aid and a division is sent to reinforce the American troops operating there, according to the senior Marine intelligence officer in Iraq.

The assessment, prepared last month by Col. Peter Devlin at the Marine headquarters in Anbar Province, has been sent to senior military officials in Iraq and at the Pentagon.

The report essentially says that there is not much that can be done at this point and it is easily the grimmest report yet to come out of Iraq.

I do not think that we will have to wait much longer before we start seeing Republicans saying that we can't do anymore in Iraq and it is time to start bringing our soldiers home. But even if they do I am confident that many of them will lose their Senate seats.

Too late by a mile.

PS: Right after I posted the above I find this. Here is an excerpt:

Among the Republicans speaking out:

· Rep. Christopher Shays said the United States should consider setting a timeline for troop withdrawals. Shays said he hopes to offer a specific time frame sometime after congressional hearings on Iraq that were begun this week by a House panel he chairs.

· Tom Kean Jr., a Republican challenging Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez in New Jersey, has said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld should resign and that Bush has made "horrendous mistakes."

· Pat Tiberi, of Ohio, said he cannot defend how the president laid out the need for going to Iraq and that new leadership is needed at the Pentagon.

I just love being right!