Andrew Sullivan, in a comment spurred by a comment on McCain’s conference call from yesterday: “But I suspect Petraeus has been told what to say. He takes orders. That’s his job.”

You know, if Petraeus comes back and says something in the vein of, “we’re making extremely slow progress, it will take another ten years to ensure basic physical security, and even then we may not see a compromise among Iraq’s factions” I’d be among those willing to rethink my position and consider a drawdown. I figure he’s been there, he’s seen it all firsthand, and he knows more than I do.

It is possible that what we want to achieve in Iraq costs more blood and treasure than the nation is willing to give.

But if Petraeus says we can salvage something from this four year effort beyond anarchy, genocidal rivalries, and a vastly destabilized region, I’m willing to back his recommended course.

But hasn’t Sullivan gone beyond “the “conservatism” of doubt” to “the “conservatism” of I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU MY FINGERS ARE IN MY EARS I AM NOT LISTENING LA LA LA LA”?