The Army and Marines exceeded their recruiting goals last month, a strange phenomenon to happen while public support for the Iraq War continues to plummet.

The Army and Marine Corps will ask Congress and the President for more troops. This is long overdue. As I have written repeatedly since 9/11, the policy of keeping our military at its post-Cold War size since the new war began is absolute madness. Unfortunately, the Army and Marine Generals are not asking for a large enough expansion.

A Democrat has won the last U.S. House election of 2006, making it a 30 seat gain for the Democrats.

The President will wait until next year before coming to the people with a new strategy for Iraq. Unlike the Democrats (and a few Republicans), I am in favor of allowing the President to take his time. We have made so many mistakes in Iraq, so let's not compound those mistakes by rushing in to a new policy without getting the advice of everyone, including the Iraqis.

Retired General Barry McCaffrey has this advice for the President.

Tony Blankley says the President should listen to the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.

The Saudis say they might back Iraq's Sunnis if the U.S. withdraws. Clearly, the Saudis have some pull with the Bush family, so expect the President to listen carefully to their advice.

The Iraqi government wants the Americans to cede to them more control in Baghdad. Essentially, they would have American troops move to the suburbs, while the Iraqi Army, backed by Kurdish reinforcements, would assume security responsibility for the city. Needless to say, this has alarmed Sunni politicians who can imagine a Shiite Iraqi Army, aided by Kurds, standing by while Shiite militias ethnically cleanse the city of Sunni Arabs.

Anthony Cordesman reminds us that while we are preoccupied with Iraq, we are losing another war, this one in Afghanistan. He has some ideas on what is needed to prevent that from happening.

Meanwhile, in Tehran, the President of Iran says that Israel is fading away, and will soon join the Soviet Union on the ash heap of history. His audience, a group of Holocaust deniers, no doubt was pleased to hear such a prediction. I'm still not sure why so many smart people think that we can negotiate with this guy.