MOVING THE GOALPOSTS AGAIN?

Remember this Atrios post from July?

"Just Last Month Since The Surge Began"

CNN, repeating [General Raymond] Odierno's words.

But that's not possible, because Robert Kagan told me it was already working in early March. And he's very serious because he gets to write op-eds for the Washington Post and go on NPR on a regular basis.

Well, now there's an attempt on the right to move the start of the surge again.

This is from Ben Johnson today at David Horowitz's Front Page Magazine:

Happy Surge Day!

Did you know the surge in Iraq just reached full strength? If not, you’re not alone....

In June, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver acknowledged, "Everyone is here on the ground now, but obviously the troops that have just got here are going to take some time to integrate into their battle space and get to know their counterparts." He estimated that process would take 30-60 days, meaning the surge would not be at full strength until…now.

So, Happy Surge Day!

From this day forward, we can begin judging the success or failure of the surge....

Yup, the surge isn't even a full day old!

Gee, I guess nobody told the author of this U.S. military press release, which used the phrase "since the surge began" -- past tense -- in July. Or John McCain, who also used the phrase "since the surge began" in March.

Are more of our pals on the right going to start arguing that the surge hasn't even really begun yet? Wouldn't surprise me. Yeah, I know they're also arguing that it's working (as is Mr. Johnson), so arguing that it hasn't started would seem to be a contradiction. But why would that stop them?