President Bush's latest speech

Is it just me (and I assume that it is not) or is the current war in Iraq in need of more than a change in the way that we describe it. Democrats blast the President's insistence on "staying the course" as being stubborn and unyielding, and I see their point. Yet, I had my doubts that what they were doing was little more than calling out the President semantically. That was, until today.

After hearing Bush speak, I believe that he is the one playing word games. Although he has promised to eschew the "stay the course" mantra, I cannot help but notice that his rhetoric about the war has not significantly changed. He believes that this war is crucial to our nation's security, and I tend to agree. He promises to send more troops if his generals suggest it. He believes that the Iraqi prime minister al-Malaqi's government is seemingly one good break or two away from establishing control over the insurgent forces. However, just today al-Malaqi condemned a joint raid by U.S. and Iraqi military forces because he wasn't informed beforehand by American officials. It seems the administration publicly supports the Iraqi government while privately ignoring it.

To his credit, Bush indicated a willingness to seek outside advice and stressed an openness to revising the war strategy to keep up with the fluid situation on the ground, but he avoided specifically saying what that will look like. It's indicative of this administration's continued failure to win the PR war, which, unfortunately, seems to be the one most important to American voters.