"Blabber'n Smoke"

Petraeus Concedes Drawdown Not Linked to 'Conditions' as Bush states in his address below. talk about scapegoating a man in uniform. Lies lies lies, yeh! A Look at the Facts Behind Bush's Speech ANNE GEARAN AP News Sep 14, 2007 03:23 EDT President Bush pointed to political realignment in Iraq's volatile Anbar province as evidence that Iraq is a fight that the United States is winning. A look at some of Bush's assertions in a national address on Iraq on Thursday. BUSH SAID: "Anbar province is a good example of how our strategy is working," Bush said, noting that just last year U.S. intelligence analysts had written off the Sunni area as "lost to al-Qaida." FACT CHECK:Anbar is not secure, accounting for 18 percent of the U.S. deaths in Iraq so far this year _ making it the second deadliest province after Baghdad. Bush's top military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, told Congress this week that Anbar's circumstances are unique and its model cannot be replicated everywhere in Iraq, but "it does demonstrate the dramatic change in security that is possible with the support and participation of local citizens." More from Talking Points Memo; And; "When the surge finally ends next year, we will be right back where we started: with 130,000 Americans in Iraq, no lasting change on the ground and no end in sight. That is unconscionable. Pressing ahead with this war, in this way, will not make America safer. The president does not recognize that reality." _ Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a 2008 presidential candidate.