[NYTr] Bush Plays Down Iraq's Failure to Meet "Benchmarks"

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Iraq's Failure???!!  Actually, it's the USA's failure to make its
occupation work better. They are all for blaming Iraq in the Bush
regime at the moment.  Bush is actually defending his own inept,
incompetent, immoral invasion and occupation. -NYTr]


The Washington Post - Aug 28, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082801159_pf.html

Bush Plays Down Iraq's Failure to Meet Benchmarks

By Michael Abramowitz

RENO, Nev, Aug. 28--President Bush played down the failure of the Iraqi
government to meet political benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress,
telling American Legionnaires Tuesday morning that it makes no sense to
ignore real military progress despite the Iraqi government's failure to
approve all the laws it promised.

While acknowledging that the government has more work to do to meet the
legislative benchmarks, Bush said goals are effectively being reached
without legislation. He asserted, for instance, that the Iraqi
government is sharing oil revenues throughout the nation's provinces,
though a formal national oil law has not been passed.

At the same time, the president said, a new U.S. military strategy --
implemented with additional U.S. forces-- is "showing results." He said
American forces are dislodging Sunni extremists from Baghdad and other
strongholds, and sectarian violence has declined in Iraq's capital.

"The momentum is now on our side," Bush said. "The surge is seizing the
initiative from the enemy -- and handing it to the Iraqi people."

Alluding to complaints about the failure of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki's government to meet the benchmarks, Bush accused his critics
of moving the goalposts. He said they are disregarding political
advances at a local level and minimizing the ultimate impact of
improved security in fostering national reconciliation.

"Their argument used to be that security was bad," the president said.
"Now their argument seems to be security is better -- so the surge has
failed." The crowd chuckled.

Bush portrayed the region as perched between what he described as the
Sunni extremism of al Qaeda and the Shiite extremism of the Iranian
government. He had especially belligerent language for Iran, accusing
Tehran of funding terrorists around the world, as well as the Taliban
in Afghanistan, while pursuing technology that could put the region
under "the shadow of a nuclear holocaust."

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and that
is why the United States is rallying friends and allies around the
world to isolate the regime, to impose economic sanctions," Bush said.
"We will confront this danger before it is too late."

"I want our fellow citizens to consider what would happen if these
forces of radicalism and extremism are allowed to drive us out of the
Middle East," he added. "The region would be dramatically transformed
in a way that could imperil the civilized world."

Bush's address is part of an effort to lay the groundwork for keeping
in place many of the 30,000 additional troops he ordered to Iraq last
January to restore security in Baghdad and Anbar province. While Bush
has said he is awaiting an assessment next month from commanding
general David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, he has been
increasingly citing signs of progress and making clear the huge stakes
he sees in Iraq as he tries to pre-empt congressional efforts to bring
the war to a quicker close.

Many national security experts believe Bush is overemphasizing the
signs of progress. A national intelligence assessment last week saw
little hope for national reconciliation in the months ahead, and
administration officials have privately sounded a more skeptical tone
about the efficacy of the Maliki government.

Even Democrats, however, believe Bush may have in his grasp the
possibility of extending the troop build-up, at least until April, when
the necessity of ending 15-month tours will require the beginning of a
troop drawdown. There are now about 160,00 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Bush's address, which was warmly received by the thousands of veterans
gathered here, was the second in a week aimed at putting the Iraqi
conflict in a larger context. Last week, Bush tried to apply what he
saw as the lessons of America's military conflicts in Asia to explain
the dangers of premature withdrawal from Iraq. This morning, he focused
on the consequences of the war in Iraq for the future course of the
broader Middle East.

In a statement responding to Bush's address, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that "The President continues to stubbornly
pursue a flawed strategy that has mired our troops in a civil war in
Iraq and diverted our attention as Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda grow
stronger. Most Americans, and a bipartisan majority in Congress,
believe this strategy is not in our national interest and the time for
a major change in strategy is now."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) blasted Bush's speech, saying
administration policies had fostered extremism in Iraq.

"Today, he said we have to stay in Iraq to fight extremists, but the
reality is, it's been his misguided policies and mismanaged war that
has fueled extremists in Iraq and in Afghanistan," said Biden, chairman
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a candidate for the
Democratic White House nomination.

But Biden seconded the president's assessment of Iran's role in the
conflict. "I don't think there's anything constructive the Iranians can
do," he said. "They're already interfering, and they're not being
constructive."

© 2007 The Washington Post