here's the set up from Anderson 360
BUSH: The road to victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress from the ground and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels. But those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.
(end video clip)
COOPER: Michael, you probably spend more time, have more contact with insurgents than anyone I've ever met. How do you think they read a statement like that and all the talk in Washington about reducing troop levels?
Ok, you have the set up, now read on as Toto - played by Time's Michael Ware - reveals the "great lie"...
MICHAEL WARE, "TIME" BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Anderson, this is all clearly from the president, political gymnastics. Like a magician, he's attempting to create something out of nothing. It's very clear that U.S. policy, on the ground in Iraq, is not winning, it's not creating a victory. The question is, can America get out of there with anything close to a semblance of success, of any kind? I mean, let's look at Iraq. He refers to an inclusive government. That simply does not exist and is back and owned now by a member of the axis of evil, Iran. Listening to commanders on the ground who have described to me the "big lie," that we can't really tell the truth of what's going on, we can't ask for the resources that we need for fear of betraying the true situation, here in Iraq. And this is a policy. Born of success that is seen U.S. administrations now turning to the insurgents themselves, bringing back the Ba'ath party.
In this war, all we have seen is an emboldening of Al Qaeda, which has become stronger in so many ways and emboldening of Iran. And the spillover of democracy, we're starting to see that in Palestine, with the coming to power of the Hamas Islamic extremist government that we're seeing in Iraq itself, which has brought to power a pseudo-Islamic series of parties backed by Iran. And this is a success that the president wishes to build upon.
The "great lie" of his address is the success of Iraq. The great truth is that the only long-term way out is developing alternative energy strategies. And he talks about a battle of ideologies. Well, so far in that test of wills, that test of ideas, we're simply gain no traction whatsoever.
COOPER: Sobering view on leaf on the ground. Michael Ware, thanks, from "Time" magazine.
"Tug, Toto, Tug!"
Yep, thanks to our inept leadership, we are LOSING the global war on terror - but that isn't seen as an issue, so you won't read or hear about it unless you grab a corner of the curtain and tug real hard.
BTC's resident Toto and WH correspondent, Eric Brewer, has the charts: Terrorism increases to record levels in 2005
Here's Toto Brewer asking Scotty why the WH keeps saying we are "winning" the War on Terror when we are so obviously not.
White House: Skyrocketing terrorism = "great progress"
