Ooooh, I hope Karen Hughes gets some public diplomacy credit for this

Have you ever wondered who’s the new top Marine general at U.S. Central Command? And what kind of decisions he gets to make? And why things have gone so very, very well in Iraq?

I think you’ll be pleasantly horrified by the answer to all three questions, here.

• • •

And beautifully enough for lovers of human folly and hubris, he was promoted one day before this recent meeting at the Pentagon:

…the president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq.