Jaw Dropper! Reuters Says Bush Legacy May Not be a Complete Failure...

This is certainly not a good thing for Reuters.  They, along with the rest of the MSM, have been looking for someone to take over the reins from Jimmy Carter for the last 27 years....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With an intensifying White House race drawing attention to his legacy, President George W. Bush could leave office without the baggage of complete failure in Iraq thanks to new U.S. military gains, some analysts say.

American success at quelling sectarian and insurgent violence has raised hopes that the relatively calmer conditions of the past few months in Iraq might last into early 2009, when the next U.S. president takes over.

"The overall prediction has to be that George Bush will escape this without an obviously visible abject failure. It may become that again over time. But right now, it looks like Bush will escape by the skin of his teeth," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution.

O'Hanlon is not alone in expectations for Bush to achieve a grim victory by avoiding the worst of Iraq legacies.

"The Bush administration has managed to basically gain enough time to come to the end of the administration without any serious deterioration in Iraq," said Joost Hiltermann, a long-time critic of Bush policy in Iraq at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

"He's bought himself enough time to sit out his presidency: applause. Bush won in that sense," Hiltermann added.

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Comments

[JorgXMcKie]

I can practically hear the disappointment.

[MarkJ]

Conversely, I've got a sawbuck that says Reuters, in particular (and the MSM in general) will be historically judged a total failure in its coverage of both the war in Iraq and the GWOT. There will be no "grim victory" for these fools; thanks in no small part to the rise of the alternative media, dinosaurs like Reuters may not even be around 10 years from now.

Anybody care to wager I'll be wrong?

[Asher Abrams]

What in the hell is a "grim victory"?

* rolls eyes, walks away *

[ZIP]

What in the hell is a "grim victory"?

Reuters slang for, "fuck, America won"

[JDAM]

Mark J "Anybody care to wager I'll be wrong?"

No.

[Chap]

I find it interesting that O'Hanlon, a fellow who I consider worth listening to if not always agreeing with, appears in the media frequently as a Brookings fellow. By the way, he also was recently hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

I also find it interesting that this latter fact is not in the Reuters piece...

[Frieda]

As a Middle Eastern myself, I agree.
I love the idea that, for once, an American president did NOT side with a dictator and it took so much backbone for Bush to do act against Saddam. Ask any Kurds in Iraq or any Afghani woman, and you will see that how ever you cut it, Bush's legacy will be extraordinary. Like it or not, he caused two democracy, however fragile, to emerge in the Middle East and we love him for that.

Eat you hear out, Liberals..!!!

[lonetown]

I'll take it a step further:

Through the lens of time it will be noted that Bush changed the course of world history.

Under Bush the UN has become less relevent.
Eastern European states more relevent.
Free trade more promiscuous.
North Korea brought to heel.
Fledgling democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Libya gave up its nuclear ambitions.

Kyoto accord - done.
ABM treaty - done.

[sheepdog]

Frieda said: "As a Middle Eastern myself, I agree...... "
Nice to read stuff like this from Middle eastern people....really nice.

[mark]

Who will be the MSM 'Gorbachev' I wonder?

The leader that the Nobel committle will award the peace prize to in 10 years, so Bush doesn't any credit?

[Achillea]

Not 'an obviously visible abject failure?' Grudging with a capital G.

[mark]

Thisa is like a superbowl post-game headline...

"Patriots fail to lose the superbowl"

[Gregory Koster]

Dear Mark J: I'll take your bet. You have left yourself open with the phrase:

"...Reuters, in particular (and the MSM in general) will be historically judged a total failure in its coverage of both the war in Iraq and the GWOT."

In whose historical judgment? The MSM's? Academia? To be sure, there are minority views within each of these groups, but minority is what they are, and what they will be. Shucks, the New York TIMES can't even bring itself to say what a liar and fool Walter Duranty was in the 1930s "reporting" now, seventy years on. Has CBS ever questioned Walter Cronkhite's Tet pronouncements? Again, the S&G song says it well, the "Sounds of Silence." Too, despite the fast decline of the MSM, there's plenty of money left in the corporate net worth, and being on the left means never ever having to say "I was wrong." So they will lie for years to come, awarding themselves the highest prizes for doing so, keeping the historical picture clouded. I will cover your sawbuck, and should I win, stand you a round of your choice in honor of your sound judgment now.

Sincerely yours,
Gregory Koster

I think this should be viewed as "Damned by faint praise". Just more ducks pecking away, another left handed complement if you will. To the folks at Reuters, this article is like lipstick on a pig.

JWF3

[bandit]

Imagine his legacy if the DemQaeda candidate isn't elected?