Iraq: Coverage of Bush's speech
Posted: Friday, September 14, 2007 9:13 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
White House, Security
USA Today’s Page says, “With this year's ‘surge’ of U.S. forces and this week's testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, President Bush is getting what he wants on Iraq: More time… In his eighth prime-time appeal since the U.S.-led invasion four years ago, the president endorsed the recommendations Petraeus detailed before congressional panels this week. Bush proposed withdrawing by July 25,000 combat troops deployed in this year's increase and waiting until March before weighing what comes next… By then, the spate of early primaries are likely to have chosen the presidential nominees. Whether to limit the mission or significantly reduce the troop presence in Iraq will turn out to be up to one of them.”
The New York Times’ analysis: “[S]ome Democrats advising Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have privately expressed fears that Mr. Bush is essentially leaving it to the next president to take the responsibility for a rapid pullout — and the blame for whatever chaos or civil war may ensue. And even some moderate Republicans have little interest in talking to voters about an enduring troop presence in Iraq or the region, for fear it suggests that there really is no end in sight. That points to a tactical political victory for Mr. Bush, which is very different from the question of whether he can realize the goal he once described so optimistically: a free, unified Iraq.”
The Los Angeles Times writes, “For more than four years since the invasion of Iraq, President Bush most often has defined his objective there with a single, stirring word: ‘Victory.’… But this week, the word "victory" disappeared from the president's lexicon. It was replaced by a slightly more ambiguous goal: ‘Success.’”
The Boston Globe: “Bush also made clear in his speech that he has no intention of yielding to his critics - including a growing number of fellow Republicans - who want him to give up the fight and disengage from what many believe is an increasingly violent, unresolvable civil war.
The Washington Post fact-checks Bush’s speech, questioning his claims that Iraqi leaders are sharing oil revenues with provinces and allowing former Baathists to rejoin the military; that Baqubah is cleared; that the Iraqi Army is becoming more capable; and that ordinary life is returning to Baghdad. “In his speech last night, President Bush made a case for progress in Iraq by citing facts and statistics that at times contradicted recent government reports or his own words.”
The Washington Times: “Mr. Bush sought to cast the current moment in Iraq as a turning point in the war, and even in U.S. history, and exhorted critics not to give up. ‘Some say the gains we are making in Iraq come too late,’ he said. ‘They are mistaken. It is never too late to deal a blow to al Qaeda. It is never too late to advance freedom. And it is never too late to support our troops in a fight they can win.’”
The Washington Post’s Shales: “Bush may have held out the promise of some troop withdrawals, but he came across as less than conciliatory in the speech, delivered in a stern, stony manner, something like a high-school disciplinarian getting tough, or rather staying tough, with a class of unruly students.”
