He expects to get an assessment of the impact of the troop buildup plan from the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, at the end of the summer.

"I see it as an important moment, because David Petraeus says that's when he'll have a pretty good assessment as to what the effects of the surge has been."

It's refreshing to see that he's still listening to the generals - whenever they tell him exactly what he wants to hear. In this case, he's saying "give it a few months"

If it seems that we've heard something like this before, maybe it's because this kind of reasoning has been used so often in reference to the Iraq occupation that it has even been given a name.

The "Friedman" was created in response to an article by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) pointing out how, according to NY Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman, Iraq's 'decisive' six months have lasted two and a half years. According to Wikipedia:

The Friedman, or Friedman Unit (F.U.), is a....unit of time equal to six months.

The term has been used in general to describe any pronouncement of a critical period for the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Such pronouncements have been made by numerous politicians and military officials involved in the war.

"The next three-to-six months will be critical."
~John McCain, Sept. 10, 2003
"Overall, I think a year from now, we will have a fair amount of progress [in Iraq] if we stay the course."
~John McCain, Dec 8, 2005
"We're either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months."
~John McCain, Nov. 12, 2006

"The developments over the next several months will be critical."
~Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, Oct. 5, 2005

"We've got, I think, six months."
~Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), Nov. 17, 2005
"We've got to stay firm for the next six months. It is a critical period..."
~Sen. John W. Warner, November 27, 2005

"I think the next few months will be crucial."
~Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), July 3, 2003

"The next few months will be critical."
~Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), July 22, 2004

"The next months will be critical."
~U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton, Aug. 4, 2005

"The important thing is to realize we are about to enter into a very critical six months"
~Tony Blair, Jan. 5, 2004

"I think the next nine months are critical."
~Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, June 29, 2005
"The next six months will be critical in terms of reining in the danger of civil war. If the government fails to achieve this, it will have lost its opportunity"
~Zalmay Khalilzad, June 7, 2006
"He has a window of a couple months..."
~ Khalilzad, September 30, 2006

"I think between now and Christmas [six months] is the crucial time."
~General Barry McCaffrey, June 11, 2006

"The next three months are critical."
~Lee Hamilton, Iraq Study Group co-chair, September 20, 2006

"The next six months will be a decisive period that will determine Iraq's future"
~General George Casey, January 19, 2007

"The next six months will be very critical in Iraq"
~Chuck Hagel, August 18, 2005

"I think it'll be rather clear in the next sixty to ninety days as to whether this plan's going to work."
~John Boehner, January 23, 2007