At a Pentagon press conference last week, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, explained the U.S. strategy there.

Its ultimate objective is not to inflict a military defeat on the Sunni insurgency, the Mahdi Army, al-Qaida in Iraq or any other militia or terrorist organization. In fact, the objective of U.S. military involvement in Iraq is not a military objective at all. It is a political one.

"The focus of Multinational Force Iraq is, of course, on worki ...

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