The president warns that troop levels will not be cut next year and acknowledges that training of local forces has had mixed results.
Getting drafty in here, isn’t it?
Painting a far more sober picture of the situation in Iraq than he did during his reelection campaign,
Translation: Bush lied to the American public during the campaign
Bush acknowledged that efforts to train Iraqi security forces have had only “mixed” results and that a violent insurgency has eroded morale among Iraqis and Americans.
Well, that’s only half true. The increasing numbers of Iraqis who support the insurgency feel otherwise. Such an insurgency can only exist when the majority of the populace at least tacitly supports it.
And the insurgency gains strength every day.
20 dead in mortar attack on US base.
Meanwhile, Americans’ support for Iraq war slipping
A majority of Americans now say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, a view that has driven down the ratings of both President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Monday.
The upcoming Counter-Inaugural demonstrations on January 20 could be quite large, I’m thinking. A populace tiring of this insane war may well turn out in big numbers. Protests are planned in D.C., where the authorities are already trying to renege on the already granted permit, as well as in L.A., S.F., and Seattle, with a NYC protest being called for Central Park if they can get a permit.