The surge is working, the surge is wor

BAGHDAD — It was billed as a national “dialogue” that would bring Iraq’s disparate and warring factions together to discuss their differences and emerge with a blueprint for peaceful coexistence. But if the national reconciliation conference held here on Tuesday revealed anything, it was that the deep political and religious fissures that run through this battered country are nowhere close to healing.

And in related news, Captain Clueless Comments:

Vice President Dick Cheney, who was visiting Iraq on Tuesday, spoke at Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad, of “incredible progress on the ground in Iraq.”