Reporter Steven Lee Myers's "White House Memo" for Monday's New York Times, "A Familiar Strategy to Help Stay the Course," portrayed the president as deluded in his Iraq optimism and chiding him for not acknowledging anti-war sentiment.
"President Bush's Iraq strategy faces a crisis of faith these days -- from the American public. And he is confronting it the way he has previous crises: with a relentless campaign to persuade people to see things his way….Mr. Bush, back at the Prairie Chapel Ranch, went on to record a radio address that showed neither doubt nor any intention of reducing the American commitment in Iraq. On Tuesday, he will make another speech in Reno, Nev., arguing that a hasty withdrawal of troops would prove disastrous for the Middle East and for American security."
Myers wondered why Bush didn't pander to anti-war sentiment while defending the war.
"'We are still in the early stages of our new operations,' Mr. Bush said in the radio address broadcast Saturday, as if there were not those who fervently wished the country was in the later stages, preparing to bring the troops home.
"The White House's strategy is as unwavering as it is familiar. In military parlance, it is called preparing the battlefield -- in this case for the series of reports and hearings scheduled on Capitol Hill next month to debate the wisdom of struggling on in the midst of Iraq's sectarian chaos and bloodshed."
….
"Public opinion remains sour. Republicans appear increasingly frustrated, chief among them Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, who last week called for at least a symbolic reduction of troops by Christmas. And a new National Intelligence Estimate concluded that violence in Iraq remained high, that terrorists could still attack in spectacular fashion and that the country's leaders 'remain unable to govern effectively.'
Myers cast Bush as deluded:
"The White House response was a classic look at the bright side. 'The National Intelligence Estimate's updated judgments show that our strategy has improved the security environment in Iraq,' a spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said Thursday."
(The Times was significantly more negative regarding the findings of the NIE than were other media outlets.)
"Critics have called Mr. Bush's ever upbeat message delusional. His rationale for the war has shifted so much since 2003 that any new pitch will have skeptics. His analogy last week between the war in Iraq and the epic struggles of World War II, the Korean War and, especially, the Vietnam War was ridiculed by some as revisionist or simply inaccurate."
Apparently, only the anti-war Times is allowed to make Vietnam-Iraq analogies.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
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...with a relentless
August 27, 2007 - 13:43 ET by PeskyDane...with a relentless campaign to persuade people...
Leadership is scarcely ever recognized by those who have never led anything or anyone.
...with a relentless
August 27, 2007 - 14:02 ET by TruthMonger...with a relentless campaign to persuade people...
The MSM prefers a monopoly on that i guess:) - lol
Optimism is so damned annoying to the left:)
exactly
August 27, 2007 - 16:15 ET by mattmThis is what struck me, too. A president who is trying topersuade people to see things his way??? Nooooo! We can't have that! We need a president who will see things the MSM's way....</incredulity>
Talk about deluded!
mattm, You know...the MSM
August 27, 2007 - 16:42 ET by Blondemattm,
You know...the MSM wants a Clintonesque leader...one who will wet his finger, and stick it up in the air to to see which way the wind's blowing.
That's the way I know I want my leaders to be...opinion followers <sarc/off>.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
...arguing that a hasty
August 27, 2007 - 13:45 ET by PeskyDane...arguing that a hasty withdrawal of troops would prove disastrous for the Middle East and for American security."
A fact obvious to most people who cognitive reasoning rised above a pre-K level.
New York Mimes
August 27, 2007 - 13:46 ET by Six String SpiffOh yes, I am deluded... The economy is doomed. We are all going to perish because we angered the terrorists who.. already want. . us dead? (lost on that one). Just ignore all of the success in Iraq with a story of an Iraqi taking out a suicide bomber to save AMERICAN lives. Ill just kep watching the videos of our boys getting sniped on CNN. Why, the entire Bush administration blows. I am SHOCKED I have all this money... in my .. wallet.
Wait.. Whats bad about this, again?
The American Revolution Continued
what's bad a bout it...
August 27, 2007 - 16:17 ET by mattm...is that it's your money, your mind, your thinking. The Libs don't like that...they want your money and to control your mind and your thinking. To them it's bad that you don't need them.
His rationale for the war
August 27, 2007 - 13:50 ET by PeskyDaneHis rationale for the war has shifted so much since 2003 that any new pitch will have skeptics.
Oxygen-thief level of stupidity here. The rational has not changed. Rather, those desperately invested in the defeat of the United States and the destruction of Western Civilization continue their transparent efforts to move the goal posts.
Correct: The rationale
August 27, 2007 - 17:07 ET by BDCorrect:
The rationale has not changed. Just the way the reporters report onthe rationale has changed.
The same sixteen rationale's for the invasion are still in force and have been since 2003.
Critics have called Mr.
August 27, 2007 - 14:01 ET by dscottCritics have called Mr. Bush's ever upbeat message delusional. His rationale for the war has shifted so much since 2003 that any new pitch will have skeptics.
Wow, talk about a case of Projection. How many different reasons were we given by the libs that going after Saddam and terrorists was a foolish thing to do since 2003??? Harry Reid on the floor of the Senate saying the war in Iraq is lost, talk about delusional.
These guys are in major spin mode, I think they've turned the knob at least two or three times fully around to see how fast they can make it move. You know at some point, the spin will be so fast that they won't be able to move their heads or arms. <sarcasm> Yes John Edwards, there are two Americas and soon the spin will be so great as to separate out everyone who is against the country.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
Bush has never changed his
August 27, 2007 - 17:56 ET by TruthMongerBush has never changed his rationale from day one - the moonbats and the MSM have tried a million different desperate lies about his rationale - but that's not Bush's fault is it?
These people are so pathetically inept - it's just laughable...
Confidence in American Troops is "Delusional" ?
August 27, 2007 - 14:20 ET by JayTeeBased upon WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq 1990, we should have no Delusions about the Best Military in the World ?
I'm not sour, I'm not Frustrated.......the NY TIMES IS ! !
I have a "Classic" View of the Bright side........NY Mayor Guilianni cleaned up NY CIty with a POLICE SURGE....Murders in NYC per year went from 2000 to 700 per year. I have a classis view that SURGES DO WORK...have been shown TO WORK...and ARE WORKING in Iraq.
"His analogy last week between the war in Iraq and the epic struggles of World War II, the Korean War and, especially, the Vietnam War was ridiculed by some as revisionist or simply inaccurate." As they say in Russia .....Bull shitsky !! It was RIGHT ON target...History repeats, and so will Success.
No new attacks on America since 9/11....GET USED TO IT !
What good is a Free Press, if it is a False Press ? David Foote GoE
The Troops Yes..the Mission...is another story
August 27, 2007 - 16:14 ET by PTWJust a subtle reminder that the President reminded us that the purpose of the surge was to create breathing space for Iraqi politician to reconcile various differences. Therefore, if the politicians don't move towards unification in their now secured capitol then the surge cannot be viewed as a success. That's like saying we already won the war in Iraq while our troops are still fighting and dying.
But we need to give them
August 27, 2007 - 16:36 ET by Dan The Man 2But we need to give them time, could be 5 days or 5 years or what ever it takes. Along the way provide incintives for them to do so in either carrot or stick form; whatever it takes.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
PTW...Nope, don't agree
August 27, 2007 - 16:36 ET by JayTeeIf we Whip Al Queda to Afghanistan porpotions, we have Won.
what the Iraqi's do with their democracy, is none of Hillaries business, or mine. I hope they do better than OUR CONGRESS has been doing, and get MORE accomplished.
End of Terror in Iraq.....end of War. Iraq takes over and fights the next battles. I will be willing to settle for 15,000 killed in Iraq each year after we leave....that's the number of Murders in USA each year.....Ref. Philidelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Bagdad...make comparison, declare Iraq Secure if they beat OUR numbers on Murder. That's a measurement.....we don't Judge Detroit by the Police blotter...otherwise we'd pull out of Detroit.
What good is a Free Press, if it is a False Press ? David Foote GoE
We must remember that we
August 27, 2007 - 16:38 ET by Dan The Man 2We must remember that we want them to fufill their wish to die for their cause. Our job is to make sure they get it. We dont want our troops to die for our country we want them to die for theirs.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
Ok...
August 27, 2007 - 17:18 ET by PTWI like your metrics on success in Iraq. I agree with your point about how Iraqis run their democracy.
But that's not what President Bush has told Congress and the American people about the purpose of the surge. If he has a different purpose/goal in Iraq than what he stated (giving breathing space to Iraqi politicians) then someone's been lying and I don't think it was the NYTimes.
You said "But that's not
August 28, 2007 - 04:22 ET by Dan The Man 2You said "But that's not what President Bush has told Congress and the American people about the purpose of the surge" and I link or slink Troll.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
Hmmm, if Bush is deluded in
August 27, 2007 - 14:21 ET by Dan The Man 2Hmmm, if Bush is deluded in tah trespect I guess he is in good company. As Churchill said Never Give In, Never, Never, Never All the great men never gave in and were according to this yoyo, deluded til they triumphed.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
"...a relentless campaign
August 27, 2007 - 14:32 ET by robert108"...a relentless campaign to persuade people to see things his way…."
That's the way a leader leads. A follower like Clinton, on the other hand, takes polls to decide which way to govern. They are criticizing our President for being a real President.
This is getting fun. 2008
August 27, 2007 - 17:30 ET by MidAmericaThis is getting fun. 2008 is almost here and the 'presumed nominee' herself will have to take her final stand on the war and the NYT will somehow reconcile reality with getting her elected. Bush's 'upbeat' and positive tone will make quite a contrast with a sour and negative campaign promoting defeat.
It will be interesting to see if the Republican nominee is ever mentioned or whether the msm will run hillary against George Bush.