Surge syndrome.

At last, Bush has announced a withdrawal from Iraq. Have Iraq's warring factions reconciled? Not really. Has the Maliki government attained legitimacy or competence? No comment.

Having achieved none of its stated goals, the surge has worked. And to prove it, Bush is bringing home a whopping 5 percent of America's troops, leaving the other 138,000 soldiers in Iraq for his successor to play with. That's the kind of success the Bush administration can hide behind.

Because one good surge precipitates another, the president also announced a "quiet surge" to pacify Afghanistan--an additional 4,500 American targets. Barack Obama saw Bush's bet and raised him. "It is not enough troops, and not enough resources, with not enough urgency," the reputedly antiwar candidate wailed.

The surge gambit, which reduces violence by delaying it, also reduced the chance of a real withdrawal by delaying the acceptance of limits on American ambition. The strategy has not won over the Iraqis, and will prove just as ineffective on the Afghans. It's only worked at home, to reduce and silence opposition.