Does Bush Mean It?

Baker and Linzer also write: "In private e-mail exchanges over the past two weeks, members of the commission's working group, including former ambassadors, military officers and CIA analysts, expressed equally bleak outlooks for Iraq and skepticism that Bush would accept the panel's recommendations."

Enter Bob Gates

Ann Scott Tyson and Thomas E. Ricks write in The Washington Post: "Robert M. Gates was unanimously approved by a Senate committee yesterday to become President Bush's new defense secretary, after a day-long confirmation hearing in which he bluntly stated that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq.

"Gates also told the panel that 'it's too soon to tell' whether the Bush administration made the right decision in launching the invasion in March 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein. . . .

"Gates emphasized 'the importance of the bipartisan approach' and laid out several ways in which he would operate differently than Rumsfeld. 'I think the first step is the tone at the top,' he said. . . .

"Several senators, listing the immense challenges Gates would face as defense secretary, urged him to be bold in expressing independent views. 'You simply have to be fearless -- I repeat, fearless' in counseling the president on Iraq and other critical Pentagon matters, advised the committee chairman, Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.)."

Not What Bush Has Said

Gates's view on how things are going in Iraq is, of course, in stark opposition to the official White House line.

Here is the transcript of Bush's October 25 press conference.

"Q: Are we winning?

"THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely, we're winning."

Strictly speaking, Bush may have been talking about the greater war on terror there. But here's more from that press conference: "We're winning, and we will win, unless we leave before the job is done. And the crucial battle right now is Iraq."

Here's Wolf Blitzer on CNN yesterday: "We'll turn to our White House correspondent Ed Henry. What's their reaction to what Gates says when he says the United States is not winning in Iraq because on the eve of the election, the president, as you well remember, said, absolutely, yes, we are winning. How are they squaring that?

"ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They really can't square it, so they were thrown on the defensive. White House spokesman Tony Snow trying to come up with an explanation and he did accurately point out that in the rest of Robert Gates's testimony, he pretty much was in line with the president. But you're right. You cannot scare the fact that two weeks before these midterm elections, the president said just the opposite.