Stay the Course?

The above figure, from the Brookings Institute, is an update on the state of Iraq in todays NYT. What kind of war strategy is 'stay the course'?

Good news:
1) Oil production - steady
2) Attacks on oil and gas facilities - down
3) Household fuel supplies - steady
4) Electric power - steady
5) Telephone subscibers - up

Bad news:
1) Iraqi civilian deaths - UP
2) Bombings - UP
3) Kidnappings - UP
4) Optimism - DOWN
5) US troop fatalites - STEADY
6) Number of insurgents - UP
7) Attacks by insurgents - UP
8) Sectarian violence - WAY UP

It's hard to tell whether we have turned yet another corner or not.

UPDATE: Vote on house resolution 861: Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary

That's like voting on whether you have stopped beating your wife yet.

Final vote results here. Our congressional Reps. McHugh and Sweeney both voted yes. You guys are real patriots. Ignorant, but patriots.