With regards to Bush's speech tomorrow, bloggers on both the left and right are calling for something we haven't yet heard from the administration: an honest assessment of the situation in Iraq and the War on Terror.
Democracy Arsenal: "That's because, given the choices, achieving a stable Iraq in the next couple of years, if it's possible, would be a better outcome than withdrawing now, seeing that country descend to chaos, and having America's credibility as a military force undercut. But to succeed, the war will need higher levels of public support. And any PR bounce achieved through a whitewash of the facts will be short-lived and will ultimately boomerang."
Belgravia Dispatch: "My plea to the President tomorrow evening in his speech to the nation. Talk straight and don't pull any punches. Explain the effort could take years yet. Concentrate on the massive stakes at play if we retreat (major instability in the Middle East, perhaps a civil war that drags in neighboring countries, and a safe-haven and rallying point for jihadists the world over, for starters). But, most important, straight talk throughout. So, no, don't mention a "dictionary meaning" or such ludicrousness. This Ahab-like obsession with staying on message is juvenile, transparent, and one of the reasons you are losing support. Rise above it!"
Stygius: "People want results; not platitudes and sanctimony. There's going to have to be some meat on the bones, or his [Bush's] credibility will sink even deeper with no one else standing around to blame."
And the survey says: "Barely one in five Americans -- 22 percent -- say they believe that the insurgency is getting weaker while 24 percent believe it is strengthening. More than half -- 53 percent -- say resistance to U.S. and Iraqi government forces has not changed."
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