Bush Wins Again

"JOSHUA BOLTEN: It is an unusual circumstance. But I think it is a product of so many different voices being focused on and so many different sets of eyes being focused on a very complicated problem and the president's very strong commitment that he wants to be guided by the person who is actually responsible for the deployment and supervision of our troops there.

"And that applies, also, to Ambassador Crocker on the diplomatic side. Both of them have well-deserved reputations for integrity and independence. The president's going to rely on their independent advice.

"And I think we've gotten to that point, because the debate has become so politicized, and that we need to put extra burden in this case, at this time in our history, on those who are genuinely apart from politics. I think that's the way the president will review their report. I think that's how the American people should view their report."

Apart from politics? Hardly. See, for instance, my July 16 column, " How Bush Uses His Generals."

Poll Watch

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that "just 39% believe [Petraeus's] report will honestly and accurately reflect the General's true assessment of the situation in Iraq. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it will not while 26% are not sure."

And AFP reports that in a " BBC World Service poll of 23,000 people in 22 countries, 67 percent said they backed a troop withdrawal inside a year, while 49 percent believed the United States would permanently leave troops in the country.

"Three in five Americans polled -- 61 percent -- thought US forces should leave within a year, with 24 percent favouring immediate withdrawal. Thirty-two percent said they should stay until security improves.

"In some of the countries in the US-led coalition a majority supported a pullout within a year -- 65 percent of Britons, 63 percent of South Koreans and 63 percent of Australians."

President Goofball

As of today, there are exactly 500 days left in Bush's presidency. Here's hoping they won't all be a repeat of today.

Tom Raum writes for the Associated Press: "He'd only reached the third sentence of Friday's speech to business leaders, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, when he committed his first gaffe.

"'Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit,' Bush said to Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"Oops. That would be APEC, the annual meeting of leaders from 21 Pacific Rim nations, not OPEC, the cartel of 12 major oil producers.