Bush Lies (Updated) 1
And that surprises us how?
From Factcheck dot org. Follow the link for facts, ’cause you ain’t goin’ to get facts from the Current Federal Administration:
- He said “36 nations … have troops on the ground in Iraq.” In fact, his own State Department puts the number at 25.
- He said “ordinary life†was returning to Baghdad. Perhaps. In fact, news reports describe the city as starkly segregated with Shiites and Sunnis living in separate neighborhoods, which are walled off from one another with huge concrete barricades.
- He said Baqubah in Diyala province was “cleared.” But the Washington Post quotes a State Department official as saying the security situation there was not stable.
- He said that “the Iraqi Army is becoming more capable,†which may be true. But the Iraqi defense minister says it’ll be 2012 before the army will be even 60 percent capable of protecting the nation from external threats.
Addendum, 9/15/2007:
Dan Froomkin stops the spinning on the morning after:
In the alternate universe that President Bush occupies, he gave a smashing speech last night.
Over there, the people of Iraq need our help to save them from the al Qaeda terrorists who intend to overthrow their brave and united government on the way to attacking America. It’s a battle of good versus evil. We have 36 countries fighting alongside us. And the fight is going very well indeed. Ordinary life is returning to Baghdad.
A few more things about Bush’s universe: There, the president can make things true simply by solemnly pronouncing them from the Oval Office. He can reach out to his critics just by saying he is doing so. And people believe him.
But over here in the real world, things are different.
Iraq is mostly ruled by armed gangs, not a central government. American troops are dying in the crossfire as the country continues to violently disintegrate along ethnic and sectarian lines. We’re in it pretty much alone. There’s no end in sight. And the real al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan.
September 14, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I don’t get why an organization called FactCheck would bother saying something like “Of course, it’s anybody’s guess what will happen in this deeply divided city [Baghdad] if the American troops leave.” Where’s the fact in that statement? Is it not actually speculation and analysis, and as such, nothing to do with verification of facts?