Reply #20: and there is a WH 'fact sheet' to go along.

[rodeodance]

A White House "Fact Sheet" on Iraq that accompanied the radio address noted that casualties from the explosive devices had been halved in the past 18 months and that nearly half of the devices are being found and disabled before they can be detonated.

The fact sheet also buttressed the president's assertion last week that Iraqi security forces were assuming greater battlefield responsibility. The fact sheet said that "Iraqi forces now conduct more independent operations throughout the country that do Coalition forces."

Democrats noted last week, however, that a recent Pentagon report said the number of "level one" Iraqi units capable of operating independent of the United States had dropped from one to zero in recent months.

And for the most part, the fact sheet ignored the missteps and false starts that have dogged the Iraq war since the invasion in March 2003 and instead contrasted Iraq under Saddam Hussein with Iraq today.

Three years ago, the fact sheet said, "life in Iraq was marked by brutality, fear and terror," and Iraqis "had no voice in their country or their lives." Today, by contrast, "the reign of terror has been replaced by a democratically elected government."