The oil stain

Shorter David Brooks: The path to victory is "blindingly obvious."

Hmmm.

Trouble is, the strategy laid out would require decades to establish any thing resembling security in Iraq.

And I'm wondering about the wisdom of using these words to describe the strategy.

Instead of trying to kill insurgents, Krepinevich argues, it's more important to protect civilians. You set up safe havens where you can establish good security. Because you don't have enough manpower to do this everywhere at once, you select a few key cities and take control. Then you slowly expand the size of your safe havens, like an oil spot spreading across the pavement.

An oil stain? I thought all of this wasn't about the fossil fuels.

How about a wine stain spreading across a shirt? Naw. That might offend the abstinent occupied.

An ink stain? Too psychological.

I got it. A blood stain spreading across the pavement. Has the unimpeachable advantage of being an accurate description of the situation.