Unease shadows Bush's optimism (LATimes) [View All]

[JoFerret]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=716&e=26&u=/latimests/20040917/ts_latimes/uneaseshadowsbushsoptimism

Great theme: BushWorld versus RealWorld; Deception versus truth. Delusion and fantasy and spin versus reality.

WASHINGTON — A combination of escalating bloodshed, gloomy assessments and deteriorating security conditions in Iraq are challenging the Bush administration's upbeat view of the struggle to establish democracy in the beleaguered Middle East nation.

A growing sense of unease is visible among Republicans as well as Democrats in Congress as bombings and kidnappings continue to rise along with the death toll.

The new challenge to the administration's view of events comes at a crucial time for President Bush (news - web sites), as the interim Iraqi government struggles to prepare for elections in January and as the Iraq issue dominates his bid for reelection.

Campaigning Thursday in Minnesota and upstate New York, Bush acknowledged "ongoing acts of violence," but quickly returned to a central — and positive — message on Iraq: that U.S. policies are succeeding and Iraq is on the verge of democracy and free elections.

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