Fewer people in Washington still cling to the belief that things are going well in Iraq. High hopes have been pinned on the January 30 elections but the violence has gotten worse, and the insurgency seems to get more brutally effective every week.

Bad news is nothing new in this war but there seems to be a weather change in Washington. The Bush Administration calls it pessimism, but others, including prominent Republicans, call it realism and it’s changing the conversation.

Tune in to hear a conversation with one defense policy expert about his plan for “Winning the Unwinnable War.”

Guests:

David Sanger, Washington Correspondent for the New York Times;

James Dobbins, Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at Rand Corporation. Mr. Dobbins has held senior White House and State Department positions under four Presidents, most recently served as the Bush administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan;

Owen Cote, Associate Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.