WaPo: Speeches on Iraq Balance Resolve and Realism

[grytpype]

Don't be fooled by the title, this analysis in the WaPo is a total takedown of Bush.

Finally, someone gets it. I'll just post some of it, it speaks for itself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR2005121402417.html

Speeches on Iraq Balance Resolve and Realism
As Bush Talks of Successes, He Also Seeks Flexibility in Judging the War

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 15, 2005; Page A01

As President Bush wrapped up a series of speeches on the war yesterday, he once again gave a clear answer to when U.S. troops would come home from Iraq: "We will not leave until victory has been achieved."

And he also gave this clear answer to when U.S. troops would come home from Iraq: "As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down."

What he did not do was reconcile those two ideas. Will U.S. soldiers withdraw from Iraq only after the insurgency has been vanquished? Or will they withdraw when Iraqi security forces become adequately trained to take over the battle themselves? Or somewhere in between?

For Bush, the four speeches delivered over the past two weeks represented a determined effort to reshape the angry debate at home over the war, presenting a more sober picture of the situation while highlighting the progress he sees exemplified in today's election of a new, full-fledged Iraqi parliament. At the same time, according to analysts, he carefully calibrated his rhetoric to give him maximum flexibility in determining ultimately just what will constitute victory.

much more at link, including the little fact that the White House doesn't even have some internal schedule they are trying to meet, they have no fricking idea when we can pull out of Iraq.

[grytpype]

1. Another quote from the article:

"If I were in his shoes, I would be trying to do the same," said Mara Rudman, a deputy national security adviser under President Bill Clinton and now a Middle East scholar at the Center for American Progress. "He is struggling to make sure this is defined as a win whenever he gets out, so he's trying to keep the definition of victory to be something he can meet."

[teryang]

2. The definition with no definition

The words mean what we say they mean when we say them but later they mean whatever we say they mean.