http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05181/530560.stm<snip>
Recent polls indicate that most American people continue to have faith in Mr. Bush's approach to terrorism. Yet support of his Iraq war policy has now dropped well below 50 percent, which could explain his new attempt to somehow link the two.
The situation in Iraq at this point promises virtually no hope. Even Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on occasion radiantly optimistic on such subjects, said Sunday the Iraqi insurgency could go on for another 12 years.
The Sunnis and Shiites both have now mounted substantial militias and are increasingly targeting each other, approaching a situation tantamount to civil war. On Tuesday Sunni insurgents killed Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, a Shiite and the oldest member of parliament. The Kurds in the north continue to go their own way, making prospects for preserving the territorial integrity of Iraq increasingly weak.
Mr. Bush had an opportunity Tuesday to adjust his administration's course on Iraq, adapting policy to changing circumstances. He didn't take it, and chose instead to try again to sell the disproved Sept. 11-Saddam Hussein line as justification of the disastrous war he has foisted upon America.