Bush re: Iraq: "Most of the country is in good shape."

[sabra]

http://www.c-span.org/executive/gwbushinterview.asp

<snip>

THE PRESIDENT: And, see, one of the interesting issues in this particular theater in the war against terror is that if we fail, then it is more likely somebody will come here and kill additional Americans. In other words, failure in Iraq emboldens an enemy which has caused us harm in the past and wants to do so again.

I listened to a lot of folks and said, instead of creating the conditions that would yield chaos, why don't we help this Iraqi government stabilize the capital city of Baghdad. Most of the country is in good shape. The truth of the matter is, if Baghdad looked like most of the rest of the country, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

And so, upon the advice of some smart military people and people inside -- diplomats and people who understand the situation -- they convinced me to add troops. We enforced the troops that are there. And General Petraeus will have that which he has asked for, and it's now in place and implementing a Baghdad security plan with the Iraqis in the lead so that, sooner rather than later, we can end up getting to what Baker-Hamilton suggested, which is a posture that is over the horizon, a defense posture that helps guarantee the territorial integrity of the country. We've got Special Ops guys chasing down al Qaeda and we're embedded with the Iraqis to help them do the security work.

[InternalDialogue]

1. It's just those pesky population centers that are causing problems!

All the areas of land with no people in them are cooperating just fine with the occupation.

[SharonAnn]

7. Right! The land and the oil are fine. It's the people who are suffering.

[Jacobin]

2. yeah, things are all pretty good over there

just a couple of hot spots...cackle cackle cackle

[BenDavid]

3. Well lets see if bush lied:

DUELING QUOTES:

Bush, "And so, upon the advice of some smart military people and people inside -- diplomats and people who understand the situation -- they convinced me to add troops."

General John Abizaid "I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, General Dempsey... We all talked together.And I asked, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And they all said 'no.' "

[indepat]

4. What emanates from the mouths of this administration gets more ludicrous by the hour

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. The oil wells feel pretty good!

[Selatius]

6. There are something like 18 provinces in Iraq. 4 are not under control.

Unfortunately, those 4 have most of Iraq's population and some of the biggest cities. In one sense, he is right, but in a practical sense, he's missing the picture.