Thursday, October 26, 2006

U.S. Is Winning War In Iraq, Bush Declares

What a relief.

I had been under the impression that we are achieving something less than success in our endeavor over in Iraq.

Asked by a reporter whether the United States is winning the war, Bush offered a discussion of the nation's role in the broader struggle against Islamic extremists.

The reporter pressed for a direct answer. "Are we winning?"

"Absolutely, we're winning," Bush said. "Al-Qaeda is on the run. As a matter of fact, the mastermind, or the people who they think is the mastermind of the September the 11th attacks, is in our custody." He then circled back and seemed to make clear that he meant the United States is winning in Iraq specifically. "We're winning, and we will win unless we leave before the job is done. And the crucial battle right now is Iraq."

Asked afterward whether Bush meant that the United States is winning in Iraq specifically or in the fight against terrorism, White House press secretary Tony Snow said: "In Iraq."

Bush repeatedly said this summer that the United States was winning in Iraq. "You're winning this war," he told troops at Fort Bragg, N.C., on July 4. Three days later, at a fundraiser in Chicago, he said: "Americans are wondering whether or not we can win. And to those Americans, I say: Not only can we win, we are winning."

But in nearly four months since then, he has avoided repeating that assertion as violence has escalated to new heights, saying instead that the United States is winning the battle against terrorism or that he is confident that the nation will eventually win in Iraq. Asked at an Oct. 16 briefing whether the United States is winning in Iraq, Snow said: "I don't know. How do you define winning? . . . Let me put it this way: The president's made it obvious we're going to win."


That settles the matter, then.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope the're paying Tony Snow well because he's going to have to check into the psyche ward pretty soon, and that could be expensive... oh wait, he's already there....

Dena

10/26/2006 1:17 PM  
Blogger Effwit said...

Dena:

The pay may not be great, but it will look good on his CV.

(To some people)

10/26/2006 4:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Exactly.

D

10/26/2006 6:06 PM  
Blogger DrewL said...

Bush's rhetorical nonsense is just so amusing at this point. How anyone can take anything he says seriously is beyond me. The thing that is so funny it's sad is how such an utterly incompetent and unintelligent person is the one in whom certain elements are trying to consolidate executive power. It's like making Gilligan the king of the desert isle. It's nuts!

10/26/2006 11:17 PM  
Blogger Effwit said...

DrewL:

Your comment reminds me of a fairly recent conversation I had about Bush.

A very sharp political type said to me that he believed that there are probably 10,000 U.S. high-school students that would be able to be a better president than W.

I replied that there are only 10,000 high-school students in the U.S. who would make a worse president than W.

10/27/2006 8:20 AM  

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