After four years and the number of U.S. troops topping out at its highest since the start of the Iraq War which is approximately 162,000, (not counting the 100,000 or so contractors), we should be making progress right? Well, if you check in with what the blogosphere is saying and just about all of America, we are exactly nowhere. In order to test the pulse of the readers of one of my favorite blogs, thinkprogress.org, I extracted what I think are the top ten in responses to our Iraq dilemma. Some are inventive, creative and just downright funny. Check them out…

What has befuddled the Neocons the most, and more specifically Paul Wolfowitz, is that it has taken so many more soldiers than they could have ever imagined would be necessary. In reality we are utilizing more troops to provide stability in the post-Saddam world than it took to conduct the war itself. Here’s how thinkprogress.org readers responded to this sad situation. In order to be concise, I selected the best out of 59 comments. And, here are the top ten:

10. Heckuva job Dumbya, we knew you were incapable of doing a job you don’t deserve.

9. 162,000 easy targets for everyone to aim at …….Chimpy and Co believe that our soldiers are part of a
video game.

8. You can’t have insurgents without a surge.

7. Wolfie finds it “hard to imagine” anything based in reality.

6. Number of troops in Iraq reaches highest level of war. Good….Time to kick ass! (groan)

5. It’s hard to imagine Wolfowitz with a girlfriend, but somehow that happened as well.

4. Hard to imagine this idiot [Wolfowitz] once shaped our foreign policy… hard to imagine!

3. A complete waste of life.

2. I was just reading an article this morning about how Basra is deteriorating now that the British are pulling out. I wonder if Bush will oder a second surge as allies draw down?

And, my favorite…

1. What was the goal of the surge? To cause large factions of the Iraqi government to withdraw? Yep, it is working. To cause Maliki to ask for the removal of Patraeus? Mission accomplished. To cause a rise in secterian tensions by arming Sunni militias? Damn, the surge is working. Or to cause an increase in troop deaths over similar periods in previous years? The surge is an astounding success.

With the upcoming Petraeus recommendations in September, be on the look out for positive spin to anything that even resembles progress. I would caution all readers to attempt to sort through all the garbage and make up your own mind. We have been lied to before, what would make anyone think that this administration is capable of telling the truth now, in September, or ever?