General Petraeus, commander of US forces in Iraq, and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker just spent two days on the Hill testifying before various Congressional committees. The spinning and misdirection required by members of this administration to make their policies appear even minimally rational continues to astound, and this latest round of dog-and-pony show didn’t change that in the slightest.

It’s unbelievably frustrating and depressing for those of us who closely follow this stuff to watch two well-educated, highly competent, patriotic Americans sit before Congress and the American public and dissemble, either for political reasons or because they simply don’t have an accurate understanding of the situation. Petraeus said he wouldn’t consider reinstating the surge, which flies in the face of administration claims that troop levels are determined on the ground (if we won’t raise troop levels if “necessary” and won’t reduce them even after these alleged security gains, what the hell determines the force structure?), and Crocker pretended that Iran isn’t the main supporter of the political/militia group propping up our main man in Baghdad (ISCI/Badr and Maliki, respectively), just as two examples.

There were some good questions, and Senators Webb, Biden, Obama, and Clinton all demonstrated facility with complex issues, and even House members, usually less incisive than their Senate colleagues simply because they have fewer staffers to write questions and prep responses, did a good job. I mean, ultimately it isn’t that hard to ask tough questions, considering how intellectually bankrupt the administration approach continues to be. But I doubt the past two days changed anything — Republicans largely screwed up the facts and called Americans with doubts about the war unpatriotic, while Democrats tried again and again to get honest answer to reasonable questions, mostly to no avail, all as per the usual — and since all of these things are mostly pre-planned and scripted, a continuation of status quo was predictable (and inevitable) anyway. And round and round we go.

By the way, Mark E. Rosenberg, 32 years old, of Miami Lakes, Florida, died yesterday in Baghdad from wounds suffered when his vehicle hit a roadside explosive device. He’s one of 18 US troops who have been killed in the past four days alone, the deadliest such stretch since last summer.