Bush’s Simplistic Vision
by Dan Froomkin—The Washington Post

The new wave of violence sweeping Iraq is not just a powerful rejoinder to President Bush's insistence that the U.S. troop surge has been a success -- it's also a reminder of how the problems facing that troubled country are much more complex than he will acknowledge.

In the vision Bush puts forward, there are just two sides in Iraq: The good guys and the bad guys; our team and an enemy. . . .

That the current battle in Basra is essentially between rival Shiite militias fighting for political power doesn't alter his narrative.

[According to] Sudarsan Raghavan and Sholnn Freeman of the Washington Post "As President Bush told an Ohio audience that Iraq was returning to 'normalcy,' administration officials in Washington held meetings to assess what appeared to be a rapidly deteriorating security situation in many parts of the country."
^^^
Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "The images from Baghdad and Basra bristled with explosions, burning buildings, angry street protests, rocket smoke wafting from the Green Zone. The words from Dayton were 'remarkable' and 'victory' and 'rebirth.'

"'Normalcy,' President Bush said, 'is returning back to Iraq.'

"Meanwhile, Bush advisers in Washington held a series of meetings to assess what appeared to be a rapidly deteriorating situation in southern Iraq as three rival Shiite militias battled for political power.
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