What a day. We have heard that the President is going to deliver this major
speech today about progress in Iraq and lay out a plan for ending this war.
Instead we got the same old rhetoric of “more of the same”.

The White House has released a new guide entitled “National Strategy for
Victory in Iraq” which can be viewed

here. I have quickly looked through it and it is basically Bush speeches put
into writing.

Think Progress has this to say on the new propaganda booklet.

After two-and-a-half years and 2,110 U.S. troop fatalities, the Bush
administration released what it calls a “National Strategy for Victory in
Iraq” (NSVI). The problem is, it’s not a new strategy for success in Iraq,
it’s a public relations document. The strategy describes what has transpired
in Iraq to date as a resounding success and stubbornly refuses to establish
any standards for accountability. It dismisses serious problems such as the
dramatic increase in bombings as “metrics that the terrorists and insurgents
want the world to use.” Americans understand it’s time for a new course in
Iraq. Unfortunately, this document is little more than an extended
justification for a President “determined to stay his course.”

They have a very detailed analysis of this booklet and Bush’s speech which
you can read
here.

Harry Reid has also released a short statement following Bush’s speech
(compliments of

Raw Story)

“Just two weeks ago, a bipartisan majority of the United States Senate
registered a vote of no confidence in the president’s current policy in
Iraq. Democrats and Republicans called on the president to change course and
release a strategy for success in Iraq with specific benchmarks by which the
progress could be measured. Today, President Bush failed to meet this call.
Instead, he recycled his tired rhetoric of ‘stay the course’ and once again
missed an opportunity to lay out a real strategy for success in Iraq that
will bring our troops safely home.

“After nearly 1,000 days of war in Iraq, our troops, their families, and
the American people deserve more than just a Bush-Cheney public relations
campaign. They deserve a clear strategy with military, economic and
political measures to be met in order to successfully complete our mission.
The president’s continued refusal to provide that plan does nothing to
support our troops or their families. Simply staying the course is no longer
an option, we must change the course. We can do better.”

I am interested to see how Republican’s who voted in favor of the
“no-confidence” resolution respond to Bush’s speech today. In essence he is not
listening to what Senate has asked for and it is apparent Bush does not feel he
has to give in to oversight as the constitution calls for.

Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to issue her statement about the speech at noon
today.

Now I am wondering how hard of a job it is to be a Bush speech writer. You
can copy the same old speeches, rearrange some words and – presto! –  your
done.