LOWERING EXPECTATIONS
LOWERING EXPECTATIONS: Apparently someone was listening to Glenn on NPR this morning: Bush Lowers Expectations for Swift War.
“As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the most desperate elements of a doomed regime. We cannot know the duration of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead,” Bush said in his hangar speech.
“We will stay on the path, mile by mile, all the way to Baghdad and all the way to victory,” he said to thunderous applause.
The tone of this speech–which I have not seen or heard, just read–strikes me as right on the mark. We have reason to be confident of a swift victory but we are going to get some of our soldiers killed. There’s not much doubt about that. I still think the total number of Coalition dead will stay under 200; that’s virtually none compared to other wars but a very large number in the era of multiple 24-hour news channels.
President Bush gives the thumbs up to applauding troops at MacDill Air Force Base after a speech Wednesday morning March 26, 2003 in Tampa, Fla. MacDill Air Force Base is the home of the United States Central Command. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
