There is only one measure of the success of the executive plan, as promised by the executive, a decrease in violence and deaths. The plan has failed to date, there is no doubt. Any justification for failure in performance leads to the same conclusion, the policy and plan has failed. ^^^^^^^^ More US soldiers were killed today by guess what? Many others wounded. The ratio of US troops wounded, maimed, injured, marred, bent out of shape, some for life, tucked away in hidden US military "hospital" "wards" around the country and world is 16 wounded to every one soldier killed, 16:1, and that ratio is the highest, even higher, much higher, than in WWII and Vietnam. Those are "hidden" facts, along with the uncounted and unreported number of US taxpayer-paid civilian mercenaries in the same roles in Iraq, and there are almost as many US-paid mercenaries in Iraq as US troops: http://news.netscape.com/story/2007/02/26/mercenaries-to-fill-iraq-troop-gap http://politics.netscape.com/story/2007/02/04/mercenaries-are-second-largest-force-in-iraq/ http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/13961