The sad thing, this confrontation wasn’t about the 3400+ American lives lost, the 300 billion in our treasure wasted…it was about the re-election of Republicans in Congress and their unwillingness to go “down” with Bush on the Iraq war.

The White House session demonstrated the grave unease many Republicans are feeling about the war, even as they continue to stand with the president against Democratic efforts to force a withdrawal of forces through a spending measure that has been a flash point for weeks.

Participants in the Tuesday meeting between Mr. Bush, senior administration officials and 11 members of a moderate bloc of House Republicans said the lawmakers were unusually candid with the president, telling him that public support for the war was crumbling in their swing districts.