Editorial: Bush’s ‘optimism’ misplaced

Friday, July 13, 2007 | 7:23 a.m.

T he report on Iraq delivered Thursday by the Bush administration was as bleak as news organizations had predicted. Even still, it contained so much spin it made us sick to our stomachs.

On the most important issue facing the country that Bush ordered invaded more than four years ago for stated reasons that proved false, the report said, "... the security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging."

We do not believe that is how the people of Amerli, Iraq, a village 100 miles north of Baghdad, would describe the "security situation." On Saturday a truck bomb went off in a marketplace there, killing more than 150 people, injuring more than 260 and reducing many homes and shops to rubble.

A truthful, no-spin assessment of the security situation in Iraq would use the words horrifying, nightmare and human tragedy.

What the report, required by Congress, was supposed to do was clarify whether Bush's leadership of the war has resulted in progress. Is the Iraqi government meeting its critical goals? Is the Iraqi army capable of functioning on its own? Are the Iraqi people anticipating better lives?

None of these questions could be answered in the affirmative by the report, which went on to warn of more "tough fighting" this summer. Stripped of spin, this means many more casualties among American troops and Iraqi civilians.

On the 18 benchmarks for progress covered in the report, the Iraqis could score no higher than "satisfactory" on eight. On another eight, their performance was described as "unsatisfactory, and on two the verdict was "mixed results."

Bush said Thursday that he saw the satisfactory performances as "a cause for optimism." More spin. Bloomberg News reported the administration's definition of satisfactory: "Present trend data demonstrate a positive trajectory, which is tracking toward satisfactory accomplishment in the near term."

More proof of Bush's failed leadership came Thursday from the Associated Press, which reported conclusions by U.S. intelligence analysts that al-Qaida has been able to regroup along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. All while we've been focused on Iraq, a country that played no role in 9/11.