Testimony before Congress by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the situation in Iraq has pointed up once again the contrast between the reality on the ground and the fantastical assessments of administration officials.

In Iraq today — five years after the Bush Administration declared “Mission Accomplished” and five years after the fall of Baghdad — the country is not under the control of the United States or the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. …

For perspective, consider the situation in Germany and Japan five years after World War II ended in 1945. Both countries were peaceful in 1950 and well on the road to economic recovery and political democracy.

General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker obviously had little choice but to present the Congress and the American people with the most upbeat picture of the Iraq situation that they could manage without sacrificing their credibility. …

— The Toledo Blade