Gates: Surge Done By July

<div class="mini gray">photo credit: lauren burke, wdcpix</div>

<p>In March, General Petraeus will deliver <i>The Surge: First Blood Part II </i>to Congress. But Secretary Bob Gates is already indicating that no matter what Petraeus assesses, the surge comes to an end in July. From <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4121">his presser today</a>:</p>

<p><em class="quote">Well, first of all, I&mdash;all the evidence available to me now suggests that we will be able to complete the drawdown of the five brigade combat teams that General Petraeus recommended last September, and that that take place by the end of July. Obviously we will wait to see General Petraeus&rsquo;s evaluation in March, in terms of what we might be able to do after July.</em></p>

<p>Of course, necessity <i>demands</i> that the surge brigades come home by July, since that&rsquo;s when they&rsquo;ll hit the end of their 15-month deployment. And, more broadly, ending the surge doesn&rsquo;t mean the end of, you know, the war.</p>