Bush administration overly optimistic in Iraq

[ScottishJohn]

A draft of a GOA report on progress in Iraq has been leaked to the Washington post. The report finds that the Coalition have made progress on only three out of eighteen targets, as opposed to the eight that the Bush admin felt were justified. The report is still being finalised, and may be altered before it is officially released:

Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902434.html

The Bush administration has challenged a report for the US Congress which says Iraq has met only three of the 18 targets used to measure progress.

The Government Accountability Office findings contrast with a White House study saying eight goals have been met.

The Pentagon said the GAO portrayed the situation only in "blacks and whites" and ignored "grey" areas of progress.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6971952.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6294694.stm

I find it ironic that the 'black and white' administration which came out with soundbites like 'you're either with us or against us' is now clinging to grey areas in order to boost what little credibility their Iraq policy has left.