Editorial: Truth eludes president

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

As President Bush boasts about what he sees as success in Iraq, a new independent report says few of Iraq's political and security benchmarks have been met, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff say they are concerned about growing pressures on U.S. troops.

A report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, acknowledges that security stations jointly operated by Iraqi and coalition forces have been established in Baghdad, minority rights have been ensured in the new Iraqi legislature, and support committees for the Baghdad security plan have been created.

But these are only three of 18 goals that need to be met, the GAO reports. Four benchmarks are only part ly completed, and 11 others have not been measurably fulfilled, the GAO says.

In a meeting with Bush on Friday, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are concerned that lengthy tours of duty are taking a heavy toll on U.S. troops and their families, the Associated Press has reported.

Still, Bush and Republican supporters such as Nevada's Rep. Jon Porter remain astonishingly steadfast in their belief that the involvement of 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq not only is necessary, but also is working.

During a surprise visit to Iraq's Al Anbar province on Monday, Bush said his expansion of U.S. troops in Iraq has resulted in a decrease in violence in Baghdad and Al Anbar. He was seemingly oblivious to reports that violence has increased in other regions of the country.

And Porter, on returning from a trip to Iraq last week, ludicrously said withdrawal of U.S. troops now would push U.S. gasoline prices to $8 a gallon. This is what passes for leadership in Washington today?

Meanwhile, Bush's refusal to acknowledge anything suggesting that his Iraq strategy has failed is troubling and does nothing to move the United States into the right direction - and out of Iraq.