Quote:

unrestrained id said:
Under fire, Bush acknowledges tough going in Iraq



I'm not sure why Reuters/Id feels the need to create the misleading implication that President Bush is only now admitting "tough going" in Iraq. He was saying that even before he was re-elected.

For example, here's President Bush in the first debate with John Kerry, on Sept. 30:


    In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. You know why? Because an enemy realizes the stakes. The enemy understands a free Iraq will be a major defeat in their ideology of hatred. That's why they're fighting so vociferously.


And here he is at an Oct. 26 photo-op with Prime Minister John Howard of Australia:

    Q: Mr. President, the defense secretary has written a memorandum saying there have been mixed results in the war on terror, that it's going to be a long, hard slog, and no bold steps have been taken yet. Do you agree with that characterization?

    Bush: What I agree with is that the war on terror is going to be tough work, and it's going to take a while. . . . We've got work to do. This is a long war on terror.


There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with the president, but shouldn't his words be characterized correctly by the press?