Meeting benchmarks in Iraq: a .167 batting average. Not bad for a utility infielder, lousy for a country in turmoil.

I have a very simple question. Which version of reality would you believe? The General Accounting Office's (GAO) or the White House's version of progress in Iraq?

The GAO has leaked its report assessing progress in Iraq in advance of the White House's scrubing of Petreaus's and Crocker's assessment. Not surprisingly, the "reality-based" GAO reports that "Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress. The report concludes with "While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced," It goes further and states. "While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged." It also finds that "the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."

"Overall," the report concludes, "key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds...."

I can hardly wait for the White House's assessment, that shall I say, will be a tad bit "faith-based."