Out of the bunker and into the marketing campaign:
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney offered upbeat views of Iraq before friendly audiences today as they sought to build on momentum from the president’s Thursday prime-time address to the country...
...Mr. Cheney declared that “the United States and our coalition are getting things right in Iraq.”
“Tough work lies ahead,” Mr. Cheney told an invited audience at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich. “But the evidence from the theater of war 6,000 miles away is beyond question: The troop surge has achieved solid results, and in a relatively short period of time.”
In his Quantico remarks, the president urged Congress to “listen very carefully” to what Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker said this week “and support the troop levels that these two men think are necessary to achieve our objective.”
“I also expect the Congress to support our men and women in uniform and their families and those who have worn the uniform,” Mr. Bush said.
There's some disagreement out there with several reporters saying that there's a shift in the Senate towards the Democrats, and others, like David Stout (above) in the New York Times, seeing Republicans' intention to hold the line.
The real action moves next week to Congress, where Democrats will try to force the president to decrease troop strength faster and impose a timetable for “withdrawal,” a word Mr. Bush did not use on Thursday night. Most Republicans plan to oppose any attempts to tie Mr. Bush’s hands, and they will be aided in the Senate by rules requiring 60 votes to shut off debate.
Seems we've got stalemate. In the meantime, Tim Grieve reports that a subtle increase, not decrease, in the basic number of troops is planned. When he looks at all the stats and reports and declarations, here's what he gets: "The net result: Come July, there may be something like 144,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, or around 10,000 to 15,000 more than there were when the 'surge' began."
Watch for Congress also investing in Alpine ski resorts in Boca.
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