A little more on the ABC NEWS/Moran interview:
Regarding the surge, Obama also said: “I think that, I did not anticipate, and I think that this is a fair characterization, the convergence of not only the surge but the Sunni awakening in which a whole host of Sunni tribal leaders decided that they had had enough with Al Qaeda, in the Shii’a community the militias standing down to some degrees. So what you had is a combination of political factors inside of Iraq that then came right at the same time as terrific work by our troops. Had those political factors not occurred, I think that my assessment would have been correct.”
AND
“I am glad that in fact those political dynamic shifted at the same time that our troops did outstanding work.”
But wait, I thought–according to Reid and Pelosi–Iraq was NOT engaging in political progress. Gee, maybe fact finding missions do have their advantages.