The White House's Report on Iraq is BS

Looks like this needs to be updated... 

Here's a link to the report.  Read it for yourself and give it some thought.  Interestingly, you might note that the PDF file is titled "Final" Benchmark Report, while the report itself is titled "Initial Benchmark Report."  While this may just be a gaffe, you can't help but be cynical with these clowns.

Even the most cursory glance at a news article on the subject is enough to tell you what you really need to know.  Out of the eighteen benchmarks for which reporting is required, progress on eight is deemed "unsatisfactory", progress on two is deemed "mixed" and progress on the remaining eight is deemed "satisfactory."

You may recall from your days in school that getting satisfactory answers on only eight out of eighteen questions is enough to flunk out, putting you at the bottom of the class.  Of course, from Bush's perspective--as a former "C" student--he sees this as a "satisfactory" outcome overall. 

Simply Amazing.

Of course, this doesn't dig into the meat of the issue.  Essentially, this report fudges the reporting requirements, toys with the definition of what it means to have "satisfactory" progress and emphasizes "success" on the easiest issues (i.e., formation of committees) over and above the utter failure to achieve any tangible progress on the significant issues that will determine the future of Iraq.  For Bush to try to spin this report as "optimistic" would be astounding, if he hadn't engaged in significant amounts of hucksterism in the past and if his credibility with somehow above absolute zero.  I suppose his love of forming committees to "study" issues has contributed to his "gut" reaction that things are moving forward. 

Slate.com has an excellent analysis of it, entitled "You Call that Progress?"  If you don't have the time to read the report itself and to draw your own conclusions about just how mealy-mouthed and self-serving is this piece of crap spewed out by these BS artists.  This analysis will give you a taste of just how how much contempt the administration has not only for Congress, which mandated this report in the first place, but for the media and the public at large.

tags: bush  iraq  war  lies  congress  report  benchmarks  saloncom  white  house  unsatisfactory  

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