posted June 25, 2005 03:22 PM            

So is the vice president ready to re-assess his rosy view about Iraq? Well, no. On May 31, Cheney told Larry King: "The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." Since he spoke, at least 66 U.S. soldiers and God knows how many Iraqis have been killed, and military officials and senators from both parties have said that there's a "disconnect" between the optimism in the White House and the reality on the ground in Iraq.

So what does Dick Cheney have to say for himself now? Cheney was back on CNN yesterday, and if we were to read the interview to you and not tell you that it was the vice president speaking, you would most certainly believe that it was, oh, the sort of thing that Republicans used to call "Clintonian." See, it depends on what the meaning of the word "throes" is. "If you look at what the dictionary says about 'throes,' it can still be a violent period, the throes of a revolution," Cheney explained. "The point" of his earlier comments had been that "the conflict will be intense, but it's intense because the terrorists understand that if we're successful at accomplishing our objective -- standing up a democracy in Iraq -- that that's a huge defeat for them."

The vice president is pretty handy with his dictionary, but there's one small problem with his lexicographical analysis. He didn't say last month that Iraq is "in the throes" of the insurgency; he said that Iraq is "in the last throes" of the insurgency. And our dictionary defines "last" as meaning "coming after all others in time or order, final; met with or encountered after any others; the lowest in importance or rank."

So which definition did Cheney have in mind? He didn't say, but perhaps we can help. Since Cheney now says that there will still be a "lot of bloodshed" in Iraq, he must not have meant "last" in the way most of us would have understood it, as a synonym for the word "final." Instead, maybe what he had in mind was the other dictionary definition -- "the lowest in importance or rank." After all didn't George W. Bush tell us -- more than two years and 1,588 dead U.S. troops ago -- that "major" combat operations were over?

-- Tim Grieve

posted June 28, 2005 10:04 AM            

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq but the public is far from demanding an immediate withdrawal, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published on Monday.

For the first time, a majority of Americans said the administration "intentionally misled" the public in going to war and nearly 75 percent said it underestimated the challenges involved, the poll of 1,004 adults found.

On Iraq specifically, 56 percent said they disapproved of Bush's work and 62 percent said they thought the United States had gotten bogged down in Iraq.

The poll results are the latest in a recent series that show growing public dissatisfaction with the war and the administration's role in it.

A majority also rejected Vice President Dick Cheney's claim that he Iraqi insurgency is "in its last throes." Fifty-three percent said they thought they insurgency was holding steady in strength and 24 percent believed it was getting stronger.

Amid sinking public support for the war, Bush is scheduled to address the issue on Tuesday evening in a televised speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The White House said he would be "very specific about the way forward in Iraq."

The ABC News/Washington Post poll found that a record 57 percent also now say the administration intentionally exaggerated its prewar evidence that Iraq possessed nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

Despite growing criticism of the administration's performance, nearly 60 percent of those polled said they believe U.S. forces should remain in place until civil order is restored in Iraq.

Fifty-two percent said they think the war has contributed to the long-term security of the United States, up five points from early June.

A small bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has called for a deadline to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but Bush has rejected setting a withdrawal date, saying it would send the wrong message to insurgents.