The G.U.

Atrios has enjoyed defining units of time. His favorite is the F.U. (Friedman Unit), which is the six month "open window" to fix things in Iraq that Thomas Friedman comes up with every six months. Now, we have the G.U., the Gates Unit (I know, it doesn't have the same ring to it that F.U. has) which is one to two years.

WASHINGTON - Robert Gates, the White House choice to be the next defense secretary, conceded Tuesday that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq and warned that if that country is not stabilized in the next year or two it could lead to a "regional conflagration."