As Gomer Pyle oft said; “Surprise, Surprise, Suprise”… not me. This was leaked by a unknown patriot at the GAO, an agency that has no legecy to protect and no lies to cover. Bush’s Iraqi report will look and sound much differently, he’ll say we are “winning the war on terror” and all’s right with the world. With a 34% rating on his Presidency, I hope the casterated Congress got an ear full this month and come back and shut the door on this war and this Presidency. I’m ever hopeful, but know that I’m probably channeling wishful thinking and we won’t be out of this mess until Jan of ‘09. May the Lord have mercy on our country.

 Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals

GAO Draft at Odds With White House

The draft provides a stark assessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S.-led counteroffensive to secure Baghdad. “While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced,” it states. While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. It also finds that “the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved.”

“Overall,” the report concludes, “key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds,” as promised. While it makes no policy recommendations, the draft suggests that future administration assessments “would be more useful” if they backed up their judgments with more details and “provided data on broader measures of violence from all relevant U.S. agencies.”