After many months of hype, it's here: General Petraeus' golden report. Finally, the pivotal moment when America alters it's course in Iraq. Or not.

Nonetheless, this week will generate a lot more debate on Iraq. If you're like me, prolonged exposure to the talking points makes your head start to hurt. So I'll reduce America's near-term policy in Iraq to its simplest terms.

(1) The Bush administration (and its supporters) will continue to claim that success is just around the corner,

(2) But in reality we'll have substantial American forces there through the end of Bush's term (to keep the country from falling apart),

(3) Democrats will continue to offer strongly-worded complaints against this policy,

(4) But they'll do nothing to stop it.

That's it in a nutshell. Stay tuned for hours of discussion by "serious" experts who will pretend that something else might happen.