21 February Washington Times commentary - Like Churchill and Ike by Tony Blankley.

Gen. David H. Petraeus is certainly no Clark Kent, the "mild mannered and meek" character of yesteryear's comic books. But is the general Superman? Because, to turn the chaos in Iraq into a semblance of order, it will take someone possessing superpowers.

Gen. Petraeus has inherited, or has been dealt, a very weak hand. President Bush upped the ante with a no-limit pot, betting everything on his new Iraqi strategy. The responsibility for playing that hand has been placed by the president squarely and almost entirely on the wiry shoulders of the former commander of the famous 101st Airborne Division.

To drive this point home, who is Gen. Petraeus' American civilian equivalent in Iraq? The answer is there is none.

Consider several of the weakest cards in the general's hand. First, military force cannot overcome or resolve the political, economic, social, ethnic, tribal and sectarian points of conflict alone...

Second, the so-called surge that has made Baghdad the strategic center of gravity is no secret. Insurgents, militias and other enemies fully understand this plan and will respond, to use the current jargon, asymmetrically...

Third, the Iraqi government is at best dysfunctional and at worst non-existent...

Finally, Gen. Petraeus must cope with a political mood at home that lacks patience. There can be no tunnel or even a "light at the end of the tunnel." Results are needed and needed now, but it is unrealistic and even foolish to believe that the new strategy can work instantly or even over a few months...
Much more at the link...