The Commander in Speech

He was working it, but did he own it? (Pool Photo By Kevin Dietsch Via Getty Images)

Bush's failure to win credit for the surge probably comes from his own past skirmishes with the truth. After years of triumphant boasts that turned out to be false, the president now has a legitimate achievement to boast about -- but his credibility is shot.

He was at work on historical revision again yesterday, thanking the Coalition of the Willing for sending more than 140,000 troops to Iraq. "Thanks to their determined work and the growing capability of Iraqi forces, many of our partners in Iraq are now in a position to return on success as well," he said with a smile.

What he didn't mention is that, as of last week, there were only 7,330 foreign troops helping U.S. forces in Iraq; the number of troops apparently dropped so low this week that, for the first time, the State Department omitted the tally entirely in its weekly Iraq status report.

Bush's credibility took another beating this week in the Woodward book, which quotes Gen. George Casey, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, telling a colleague that Bush reflected the "radical wing of the Republican Party that kept saying, 'Kill the bastards! Kill the bastards! And you'll succeed.' " Woodward writes that Adm. Michael Mullen, then chief of naval operations, warned before the troop increase in Iraq that it would detract from "so many other issues and challenges," including Afghanistan.

That warning seemed prescient at Fort McNair yesterday, as Bush, moments after announcing troop reductions in Iraq, ordered troop increases in Afghanistan. He positioned it as a product of the surge's success: "As al-Qaeda faces increased pressure in Iraq, the terrorists are stepping up their efforts on the front where this struggle first began."

In reality, the growing violence in Afghanistan came about largely because the United States was distracted in Iraq. But never mind all that. The officers in the audience did what they were required to do: They snapped to their feet for the commander in chief, who walked off the stage to a Sousa march.

"All clear!" an army officer in the front called out when Bush had left the room. The president was gone, and the officers were free to return to reality.