Beneath the Balloons & Confetti: Petraeus Announcement Overshadowed

Didn't see this right away, for all the convention coverage. Petraeus says no combat brigades out of Iraq until January, '09. Combine that announcement with the release that the Pentagon may prevent the general from giving a status report on Capitol Hill anytime soon. In a nutshell: the politicos finally want to move troops to Afghanistan, but the general in Iraq doesn't think we've got the resources to spare. It makes for a subnarrative that the GOP would rather Americans didn't notice for all the theater these last two days in St. Paul.