Administration officials say their preliminary review of the Iraq Study Group Report "has concluded that many of its key proposals are impractical or unrealistic & a small group inside the National Security Council is now racing to come up with alternatives to the panel's ideas."

But, as Niall Ferguson writes: "Last week saw the publication of a masterpiece of persuasion. But whom will it persuade? And with what sticks and carrots? Most commentators have interpreted the report of the Iraq Study Group as a well-crafted admission of defeat.... Rather, the report's aim is to convince legislators that withdrawal from Iraq - no matter how much their constituents may yearn for it - is not an option."

Baker-Hamilton's Fine Print: Stay in Iraq