Gates: “The goal in September is not whether the violence has been significantly reduced or stability has been brought, it seems to me, but rather whether it has been reduced to a level that the political reconciliation process is moving forward in some meaningful way.

Am I the only one that thinks this is a really stupid statement?

U.S. officials will base a decision about bringing American troops home from Iraq on whether, by early September, the ongoing troop surge produces enough of a reduction in violence to allow for political progress, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress Wednesday.

“I think we-re going to be looking for the direction of events,” Gates stressed during an appearance before the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee. “The goal in September is not whether the violence has been significantly reduced or stability has been brought, it seems to me, but rather whether it has been reduced to a level that the political reconciliation process is moving forward in some meaningful way.

“I think if we see some very positive progress and it looks like things are headed in the right direction, then that’s the point at which I think we can begin to consider reducing some of these forces,” Gates said.

He promised that he-ll provide an “honest evaluation of whether the strategy is working or not.” And, he said, “The outcome of that evaluation is not foreordained.”

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