(Bush) Reports of Progress In Iraq Challenged

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902017.html

Reports of Progress In Iraq Challenged
Critics Cite Administration's Past Rhetoric

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 10, 2007; Page A14
.............

But a number of analysts and critics said this week that some of those signs indicate less progress than the administration has suggested. Sectarian attacks in Baghdad are down at the moment, but the deaths of Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops have increased outside the capital. Though Iraqi leaders have agreed on a new framework law for oil resources, the details of how the oil revenue will be divided among competing Iraqi groups remain unresolved.

..........

Bush prefaced his report, given in a speech to the American Legion, by saying that it is too early to judge success. Others have added similar caveats. "I think people have been badly burned by letting hopes outride analysis" in the past, said one senior administration official, "and there is going to be a genuinely careful look at everything before saying it." Though there are positive indicators, he said, "right now there is no trend."


.............

At times, however, Bush's assessment appeared less than fully accurate. "The Iraqi government," the president said, "has completed the deployment of three additional Iraqi Army brigades to the capital. They said they were going to employ three brigades, and they did." But a senior U.S. military official in Baghdad said this week that two Iraqi brigades and one battalion of a third have arrived in Baghdad. Two of the five new U.S. brigades committed under the new strategy have also arrived.

Bush's report that "Iraqi and U.S. forces have rounded up more than 700 people affiliated with Shia extremists" appears to have little to do with the new strategy. The number is "based on captures . . . since July 2006," the military official said. Bush first reported the same roundup -- citing 600 captures -- last fall.

[maddezmom]

1. he also made it sound like the Iraq Oil Law was already passed

which of course hasn't happened.

[rodeodance]

2. ....the last four years in a variety of ways exaggerating, hyping and not being clear ....

The administration's past rhetoric on Iraq -- from "Mission Accomplished" in spring 2003 to the "Strategy for Victory in Iraq" in the fall of 2005 and last summer's "Plan Baghdad" -- has left it open to questions.

"I think people would be more sympathetic . . . if he hadn't spent the last four years in a variety of ways exaggerating, hyping and not being clear about the facts," said a senior Democratic congressional staffer who was not authorized to speak on the record. "Now he's saying the sky isn't falling, and people don't believe it."

If violence is down in Baghdad, analysts said, it is likely because the Shiite militias operating there are waiting out the buildup in U.S. troops, nearly all of whom are being deployed in the capital. At the same time, Sunni insurgents have escalated their operations elsewhere.

As Bush spoke on Tuesday, at least 118 Shiite pilgrims were killed in attacks across central Iraq on the eve of one of Shiite Islam's most sacred holidays. The attacks came the day after nine U.S. troops were killed by roadside bombs outside the capital. On Wednesday, at least 75 more Iraqi civilians and two U.S. soldiers were killed in bomb attacks.

[Beetwasher]

3. Whack-A-Mole

"Sectarian attacks in Baghdad are down at the moment, but the deaths of Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops have increased outside the capital."

[rodeodance]

4. Bush will say his benchmark is Baghdad!!

[theoldman]

5. Let me explain progress. If 20,000 people were killed last year

and 30,000 are killed this year,you have progress because 30,000 is greater than 20,000. This is Republican mathematics.

[rodeodance]

6. Senior Bush Official: ‘No Trend’ Showing Escalation Is Working

I just found another DU post on this topic:


Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject Senior Bush Official: ‘No Trend’ Showing Escalation Is Working
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3154706#3154706
3154706,


Senior Bush Official: ‘No Trend’ Showing Escalation Is Working
Posted by babylonsister on Sat Mar-10-07 09:52 AM

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/10/escalation-fact-check /


Senior Bush Official: ‘No Trend’ Showing Escalation Is Working

On Tuesday, President Bush gave a speech claiming the Iraq escalation is showing “encouraging signs” of progress in Iraq. But a senior Bush administration official is quoted in the Washington Post today acknowledging that “right now there is no trend” showing the escalation is working.

Moreover, officials say the information Bush presented to back up his rosy claims was skewed. A fact check:

President Bush: “General Petraeus recently arrived in the Iraqi capital, and the plan he is executing is in its early stages. … Yet even at this early hour, there are some encouraging signs.”

FACT: “Sectarian attacks in Baghdad are down at the moment, but the deaths of Iraqi civilians and U.S. troops have increased outside the capital. … If violence is down in Baghdad, analysts said, it is likely because the Shiite militias operating there are waiting out the buildup in U.S. troops, nearly all of whom are being deployed in the capital. At the same time, Sunni insurgents have escalated their operations elsewhere.”

President Bush: “Iraq’s Council of Ministers recently agreed on legislation they will submit to their parliament on the development of Iraq’s oil resources and the sharing of revenues.”

FACT: “Though Iraqi leaders have agreed on a new framework law for oil resources, the details of how the oil revenue will be divided among competing Iraqi groups remain unresolved.”

President Bush: “The Iraqi government has completed the deployment of three additional Iraqi Army brigades to the capital. They said they were going to employ three brigades, and they did.”

FACT: “A senior U.S. military official in Baghdad said this week that two Iraqi brigades and one battalion of a third have arrived in Baghdad.”

President Bush: “Iraqi and U.S. forces have rounded up more than 700 people affiliated with Shia extremists.”

FACT: “Bush’s report…appears to have little to do with the new strategy. The number is ‘based on captures…since July 2006,’ the military official said. Bush first reported the same roundup — citing 600 captures — last fall.”

On the same day President Bush gave his speech last week, suicide bombers and gunmen atta

[stonebone]

7. If your plan is working so great, shrubbie, then it must be time to withdraw