This Cox & Forkum cartoon captures the situation perfectly.

UPDATE: Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise Christmas Eve visit to U.S. troops in Mosul.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited wounded soldiers and brought holiday greetings on Christmas Eve amid tight security at an air base in northern Iraq where an insurgent’s attack killed 14 U.S. troops and eight other people earlier this week.

UPDATE II: Here’s more on Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Mosul. (From Power Line)