Democrats shift, now dismiss claims of Iraq progress; Emanuel: report wins Pulitzer for fiction

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Democrats question numbers propping Iraq progress
By Noam N. Levey, Times Staff Writer
September 7, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Launching a new assault on the president's war strategy, congressional Democrats have begun to dismiss the Bush administration claims of military progress as unreliable spin ahead of testimony Monday from the top U.S. commander in Iraq. In a shift from recent comments that the military "surge" seemed to be making some gains, Democrats are now questioning the statistics being used to back the reports of progress.

They also are casting Gen. David H. Petraeus' report as a product of the White House rather than an independent analysis by a military commander. "By carefully manipulating the statistics, the Bush-Petraeus report will try to persuade us that violence in Iraq is decreasing and thus the surge is working," said Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, in a speech Friday in Washington. "Even if the figures were right, the conclusion is wrong."...

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Bush gave Democrats an opening to question the Petraeus report when he made a surprise visit to Iraq last weekend, said Paul Begala, a former advise r to President Clinton who has advised Senate Democratic leaders. He said Bush's trip, intended to highlight military accomplishments in al- Anbar p rovince, undermined the impression that Petraeus is an independent voice. "The White House did something very strategically foolish," he said. "He was their biggest asset."

As the week drew to a close, Petraeus' upcoming testimony had become the target of persistent attack as Democratic lawmakers branded it the "Bush report."

"Instead of a new strategy for Iraq, the Bush administration is cherry-picking the data to support their political objectives and preparing a report that will offer another defense of the president's strategy," said Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, in a floor speech Friday. "We don't need a report that wins the Nobel Prize for creative statistics or the Pulitzer for fiction."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-iraqdebate8sep08,0,6253978,full.story?coll=la-home-center