Whitehouse Strategy
Talking Point A: We're in a Global War on Terror
Talking Point B: The Republicans are the only party capable of winning the GWOT.
Talking Point C: Iraq is at the forefront in the GWOT.
Therefore, the following must be true:
1. We have the troops, resources and adequate managed funding to succeed and have made great strides in controlling the region.
Recently, American and Iraqi forces have launched some of the most aggressive operations on enemy forces in Baghdad since the war began. They've cleared neighborhoods of terrorists and death squads, and uncovered large caches of weapons, including sniper scopes and mortars and powerful bombs. There has been heavy fighting. Many enemy fighters have been killed or captured, and we've suffered casualties of our own. This month we've lost 93 American service members in Iraq, the most since October of 2005. During roughly the same period, more than 300 Iraqi security personnel have given their lives in battle. Iraqi civilians have suffered unspeakable violence at the hands of the terrorists, insurgents, illegal militias, armed groups, and criminals.
(...)
I will send more troops to Iraq if General Casey says, I need more troops in Iraq to achieve victory. And that's the way I've been running this war. I have great faith in General Casey. I have great faith in Ambassador Khalilzad. I trust our commanders on the ground to give the best advice about how to achieve victory. I want to remind you, victory is a government that can sustain itself, govern itself -- a country that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself, and serves as an ally in the war on terror -- which stands in stark contrast to a government that would be chaotic, that would be a safe haven for the enemy to launch attacks on us.
2. Being the party with a singular stranglehold on the nation, they've got the war under control.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The military said on Thursday five more American troops were killed in Iraq, bringing the U.S. death toll for October to 96, as President George W. Bush sought to deflect mounting election-year pressure over the war.With less than two weeks before November 7 polls in which his Republican party risks losing control of Congress, Bush said on Wednesday American patience over Iraq had its limits but pledged not to put unbearable pressure on Iraqi leaders.
"We're pressing Iraq's leaders to take bold measures to save their country. We're making it clear that American patience is not unlimited," Bush told a White House news conference.
3. Our focus is on ensuring we've won both the hearts and minds of the Iraqis to ensure violence does not impede the rebuilding.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki distanced himself on Wednesday from a U.S.-announced "timeline" to end sectarian violence and criticized a raid on a Shi'ite militia stronghold aimed at a death squad leader. Maliki, himself a Shi'ite Muslim, spoke a day after the top U.S. civilian and military officials in Iraq said his government had agreed to a series of steps to end the bloodshed over the next year that would allow U.S. troops to start going home."The Americans have the right to review their policies but we do not believe in a timetable and no one will impose one on us," Maliki told a news conference in remarks that seemed aimed at dispelling any perception he is a pawn of the White House.
He also contradicted a U.S. military statement which said Wednesday's Iraqi-U.S. ground and air assault on the crowded Sadr City slum district of Baghdad, in which four people were killed, had been authorized by his government.
"We will be seeking an explanation from the multinational forces to avoid a repetition of what happened without our cooperation in advance," Maliki said.
Not so much then?