Bush changes tune on Iraq, things could be even worse

[dajoki]

WP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14473431/

Bush shows pessimism on Iraq
President shifts tone as he makes case for U.S. policy

By Peter Baker

Updated: 11:16 p.m. ET Aug 23, 2006

Of all the words that President Bush used at his news conference this week to defend his policies in Iraq, the one that did not pass his lips was "progress."

For three years, the president tried to reassure Americans that more progress was being made in Iraq than they realized. But with Iraq either in civil war or on the brink of it, Bush dropped the unseen-progress argument in favor of the contention that things could be even worse.

The shifting rhetoric reflected a broader pessimism that has reached into even some of the most optimistic corners of the administration -- a sense that the Iraq venture has taken a dark turn and will not be resolved anytime soon. Bush advisers once believed that if they met certain benchmarks, such as building a constitutional democracy and training a new Iraqi army, the war would be won. Now they believe they have more or less met those goals, yet the war rages on.

While still committed to the venture, officials have privately told friends and associates outside government that they have grown discouraged in recent months. Even the death of al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq proved not to be the turning point they expected, they have told associates, and other developments have been relentlessly dispiriting, with fewer signs of hope.

[opihimoimoi]

1. A Rotten Fish is a Rotten Fish....we have not yet found a way to make it

fresh once more.

Bush is a Rotten Fish...

[ninkasi]

2. You are right, Opi

Not only is he rotten, but his cronies are, too. We need to gain control of Congress soon, to keep the rot from spreading any further.

[opihimoimoi]

9. They have infected our Society with a contagious pathogen known as

Conservatism

The NeoCons have DEVIOUS PLANS and have implemented much of it. The Results thus far have been COUNTER PRODUCTIVE to the point of HURTING our FUTURE.

[Supersedeas]

10. could be worse...could be scales and bones or bare DNA of a rotten fish

[opihimoimoi]

11. YUP, could be worse......barely...LOL

[calimary]

3. I could sense it in bush's voice during that latest press conference

of his, and how "forcefully" he spoke - the voice getting louder and more shrill - that's the sound of desperation setting in. There's no room for cockiness and easy-going good-time georgie schtick anymore. Hell, I'll bet he doesn't even feel much like farting in public, to mess with people's heads for the sake of a cheap laugh, anymore.

[dajoki]

4. He sounded kind of deranged to me n/t

[liberal N proud]

5. I can't wait for the day when they carry him off in a straight jacket

[driver8]

6. I can't wait for the day when they carry him off in handcuffs... n/t

[liberal N proud]

7. It will be a race to see which one happens first

He is eroding further into a delusional state every time he makes a public appearance. And there is nothing on the horizon that looks like any one will prosecute.

[dajoki]

12. That day might not be far off n/t

[cliss]

8. Good. The timing is perfect.

Court Jester George is making a fool of himself, right in time for the mid term elections in November.

I hope he'll get out there and really start hammering away at this issue, just when voters have finally realized in disgust that these guys are idiots. They just want to get us out of Iraq......today.

If not sooner, then in November.

Keep going, Bush.