Tony Snow Thinks nothing Went Wrong With Iraq

   You just have to love a press briefing with Tony Snow! I now know why the Bush Crime Family picked this idiot to be their mouthpiece to the press. It had to be for the comic relief!

   At the briefing today:

The White House

Q Slides from a pre-war briefing show that by this point, the U.S. expected that the Iraqi army would be able to stabilize the country and there would be as few as 5,000 U.S. troops there. What went wrong?

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure anything went wrong. At the beginning of the Civil War, people thought it would all be over at Manassas. It is very difficult -- no, Jessica, the fact is, a war is a big, complex thing. And what you're talking about is a 2002 assessment. We're now in the year 2007, and it is well-known by anybody who has studied any war that war plans immediately become moot upon the first contact with the enemy.

Q But this estimate was monumentally wrong. So would the President, knowing what he knows today, still have decided to go into Iraq?

MR. SNOW: Yes. The President believes that we did the right thing in going into Iraq. The question is, should you saddle any military planner with an expectation that they're going to have perfect insight into what happens five years later? Aand the answer is, of course not. And I think if you talk to military planners, they do their very best under a situation. As you know, many reporters who were in the field then probably had different views about how things might be today.

Q Tony, the President has said repeatedly that he is not satisfied with the situation in Iraq. Given those numbers he outlined today in Afghanistan -- the number of roadside bombs doubled, direct attacks increased three times, suicide bombs increased five-fold -- is he satisfied with the situation in Afghanistan?

What the President understands is that groups, like the Taliban and al Qaeda, are going to do whatever they can. They're going to do their best to use terror as a way of preventing democracy from flourishing in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it is the commitment of allies in both countries, along with the host government, and increasingly -- again, you heard today, building greater capacity on the part of the host government, to make sure that they've got the ability, ultimately, to stand on their own.

 

Technorati tags: Tony Snow, Iraq, Press Briefing, White House, Congressional Approval, Congress

 

Reid Is Pissed At Senate Republicans and the Vote Is On Saturday!

   Just a little bit more on Senator Harry Reid's rebuke to the GOP and the upcoming Saturday vote, from IraqSlogger:

Reid Loses Patience With Senate Republicans
Announces Saturday Vote on Iraq Resolution
By CHRISTINA DAVIDSON
    Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has given up trying to convince Senate Republicans to allow a floor debate on pending resolutions supporting and/or condemning President Bush's surge plan.

Opting for the path of least resistance, and expecting the non-binding resolution currently under discussion in the House will pass with ease, Reid is moving to schedule an up-or-down vote on the ten lines that voices support for troops, but not for Bush's proposed surge.

If they do want to prevent the spectacle of U.S. senators lambasting the President during scheduled debate times for the proposal, Republicans will have to again request a 60-vote majority for passage of the measure. Though McConnell could attempt the move again, he would most likely face the prospect of more potential defectors than last week.

In a statement just released, Reid says:

"For nearly four years, the Republican-controlled Senate stood silent on the President's flawed Iraq policies and watched as the situation deteriorated into a civil war. The American people have chosen to change course. Democrats have chosen to change course. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have chosen obstruction. Almost every Republican who expressed concern about the escalation chose to block the Senate from debating the issue.

"Today, Democrats offered Republicans another chance for compromise, suggesting the Senate debate one resolution in favor of escalation and one resolution opposed to escalation. Once again, Senate Republicans refused.

"Democrats are determined to give our troops and the American people the debate they deserve, so the Senate will have another Iraq vote this Saturday. We will move for a clear up or down vote on the House resolution which simply calls on Congress to support the troops and opposes the escalation.

"Those Republicans who have expressed their concern over the Senate's failure to debate the war in Iraq will have another opportunity to let their actions speak louder than their words."

 

Technorati tags: Sen. Reid, Sen. Republicans, Vote, Resolution