Somebody's calendar is mixed up.

Feb. 7, 2003, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking about Iraq, said, "It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Thursday, new Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress: "I don't think anybody has a definite idea of how long a surge would last. I think for most of us in our minds we're thinking of it as a matter of months, not 18 months or two years."

God help us.