Seriously, try not to act too shocked.
Republican leaders on Tuesday suggested the GOP may be willing to support keeping troops in the region through spring.
Despite the GAO report detailing the abject failure of the Republican's Iraq strategy, did anyone really think September was going to bring more than the same bullshit? The White House Petraeus report will take all about the Success(!) we're having, and do so by refusing to count all the dead people. Then, all those "moderate" Republicans who have been supposedly antsy about Iraq will declare that they're all still antsy, but willing to wait until the Magical Spring to make things happen.
The Very. Serious. People. in DC will furrow their brows and talk gravely about how all "responsible" people agree that sending other families' kids to die in Iraq is the "right" thing to do since it's the best way to protect their fragile little egos.
Then everyone will have a jolly good time accusing Democrats of hating the troops, at which point Dems can either 1) call bullshit and work to end this thing, or 2) cave, and see their approval ratings sink to low-single digits while sabotaging their electoral chances in 2008.
Either way, the media will buy the "Magical Spring" trope and run with it, not realizing that it would ultimately give way to "Magical Autumn", which would then give way to "Magical Never".