'06 Delusion Alert: Bush Continues to Insist "We're Winning" in Iraq

A new Iraq talking point emerged from the Bush administration this week: We're #1!

Looking for a bright spot amidst all the gloomy assessments, the president, the vice president, and the top U.S. commander all seized on the military's perfect win-loss record in Iraq.

"The men and women of the armed forces have never lost a battle in over three years in the war," said President Bush during today's news conference on Iraq.

"We've never been defeated in a stand-up fight in Iraq in over three years," Dick Cheney told NPR.

"The men and women of the armed forces here have never lost a battle in over three years of war. That is a fact unprecedented in history," said Gen. Casey at a press conference in Baghdad.

2,804 dead U.S. soldiers -- 93 in this month alone. 20,687 wounded. Tens -- perhaps hundreds -- of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed.

If this is what being undefeated looks like, god help us if we ever start losing.

After touting the military's unbeaten streak, the president admitted that Iraq "is a different kind of war... This war is an ideological conflict between a radical ideology that can't stand freedom and moderate, reasonable people that hope to live in a peaceful society."

So do you win an ideological war with guns and soldiers -- even undefeated ones? Bush seems to think so, saying the key to victory in Iraq is "refining our training strategy for the Iraqi security forces, so we can help more of those forces take the lead in the fight and provide them better equipment and firepower to be successful."

Sounds like a new twist to the "as Iraqi forces stand up, U.S. troops will stand down" strategy: As they stand up, we'll load 'em up with firepower so they can blow that "radical ideology" to kingdom come.

It's still not at all clear when that is going to happen, however.

Vice President Cheney thinks "we're about 75 percent of the way there in terms of getting an Iraqi force that's able to provide for their own security... But we've still got a long way to go before they'll be in a position where they can take over prime responsibility themselves."

President Bush crunched the Iraqi force numbers a little differently -- "six of 10 divisions now are in the lead in helping this government defend itself" -- but came to the same conclusion: "There is tough fighting ahead. The road to victory will not be easy. We should not expect a simple solution."

According to the president, "one of the most difficult aspects" of preparing Iraqi security forces "to be able to operate independently," is "because that means they have to be able to drive themselves" as well as "maintain their vehicles."

So the big problem in Iraq isn't really the terrorists or the sectarian hatred between Shiites and Sunnis. It's the lack of Driver's Ed and a good mechanic. Apparently, if we want to prevail in Iraq, we need to get rid of Don Rumsfeld and replace him with Mr. Goodwrench. Or Morgan Freeman -- Driving Mister Sistani.

While conceding "the events of the last month have been a serious concern to me," the president remained the Optimist-in-Chief, saying of Iraq: "Absolutely we're winning" and "We're winning and we will win." After all, our Army is undefeated, right?

After the cheerleading, the president wrapped up his "candid assessment" of Iraq by tossing in a little campaign fear-mongering, warning that Democrats don't "understand how dangerous this world is": "The enemy still wants to strike us... These are lethal, cold-blooded killers. And we must do everything we can to protect the American people, including questioning detainees or listening to their phone calls from outside the country to inside the country... As you know, there was [sic] some recent votes on that issue. And the Democrats voted against giving our professionals the tools necessary to protect the American people."

And just in case it wasn't clear enough that a vote for Democrats is a vote for Osama, the president also made this outrageous claim: "I understand here in Washington, some people say we're not at war. I know that. They're just wrong, in my opinion."

Some people? Which people, Mr. President? Can you name even one? I challenge you to identify a single political figure in Washington who doesn't think we're at war.

Point them out and we'll show them pictures of all the flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq -- then do everything we can to vote them out of office. In the meantime, we'll continue to do everything we can to vote your party out of office.

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