Front-page reports in the Saturday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post by two of the leading writers on the war cast grave doubts on the likely success of the two major U.S. military operations in Iraq. One relates to the latest effort to secure Baghdad, the other to the new drive in Baquba.

Meanwhile, eight American servicemen were reported today to have been killed in Iraq, bringing the four-day death toll to at least 25.[...]'Why would we think that a temporary presence of 30,000 additional combat troops in a giant city would change the dynamics of a bitter civil war?' [Retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey] said in an interview yesterday. 'It's a fool's errand.'

Really? The Chimp in Chief hatched a brilliant plan? And it's not working?