As the critics’ voices grow louder, it is increasingly difficult to see the bigger picture in Iraq. Is the Bush administration losing control of the situation on the ground, or is the media transforming a military victory into a defeat in the public mind? Can the U.S. military successfully prosecute a counterinsurgency campaign in the Sunni triangle while simultaneously winning the Iraqi people over to our side? Would additional U.S. troops help speed us to success, or is the solution to "internationalize" the reconstruction force? Are we winning the battle for the future of Iraq? How will we know when we have won?

AEI’s Black Coffee Briefings return at 9:00 a.m. on October 7 with a hard-hitting panel discussion addressing these and other questions. Scheduled participants include William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard; AEI resident fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht; and Steven Metz, professor at the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College. Thomas Donnelly, AEI resident fellow, will serve as moderator. Black coffee will be served.