John Hawkins, Right Wing News: CNN reporting that total security responsibility will be shifted to Iraqis by November?

Snow: Yes. This is Maliki’s benchmark and his plan. We’re working with them to build better professionalism, discipline, and experience in their forces.

Ummm... didn't Maliki say just back in November that Iraqi forces would begin doing this in June '07? Has he been talking to Friedman again?

I couldn't make the appointed time for the teleconference yesterday to preview the President's speech on Iraq. If I could have been on the call, I would have asked about the alleged changes in ROE. James Joyner has a the...

not that successes aren’t happening, it’s just that they don’t matter

Huh? Successes don't matter?

I would say what is driving the situation on the ground is the effect that terrorists can get from creating gory incidents.
If they thought their attacks would be met with resolve, that the Iraqi people would continue to grow and develop regardless, their attacks would no longer have the desired effect. Hell, some might even start thinking about how they might get involved before their gory demise.

I won't even start with the media.

While the "gory" may not be the "usual" in Iraq, it is that which is driving the situation on the ground. It matters not a wit if a billion schools are painted and a trillion miles of electrical wire are strung if the violence manages to undo the government. It's not that successes aren't happening, it's just that they don't matter unless your one of the dead enders trying to spin the administrations policy into a some kind of success.

Rosemary Esmay, Dean’s World: Why letting the press downplay our successes?

Snow: “Trust me, it’s not a matter of ‘letting.’” “It’s the unusual and the gory that attracts the most attention,” not just among journalists but readers.

Seems the "gory" is the "usual" in Iraq.

One thing is for sure: I have come to the conclusion that we massively screwed up the immediate post-invasion period. If we purged even nominal Baathist from low-level civil service jobs it is no wonder that nothing is working.