The election is an excuse. The election was back in August and Obama is using them as an excuse to delay because he has to figure out how to get out of the corner he has painted himself into. If he goes with the surge, he is unpopular with libs who oppose the war entirely. If he denies the surge, then Iraq as a distraction from the "real" war becomes a phony issue. So he will grab at any issue.

When Iraq was a "distraction", Pakistan wasn't going after the Taliban. So why is that critical now and not when Obama sent the first surge to Afghanistan?