Turning Points

Speaking before The American Legion yesterday, President Bush optimistically assessed where we are today in Iraq. At least he didn't term it a turning point:

There are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. The momentum is now on our side.

I’m sure there are still some Bush die hards who give credence to his every word, but just to keep things in context, here are some prior Bush quotes as published today in the Washington Post:

We're helping Iraqis take responsibility for their own security. We're continuing to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, and we're helping Iraq move to free elections. A turning point will come two weeks from today. On June the 30th, governing authority will be transferred to a fully sovereign interim government, the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist, and an American Embassy will open in Baghdad. -- June 16, 2004

Tomorrow the world will witness a turning point in the history of Iraq, a milestone in the advance of freedom and a crucial advance in the war on terror. The Iraqi people will make their way to polling centers across their nation." -- January 2005

There's still a lot of difficult work to be done in Iraq, but thanks to the courage of the Iraqi people, the year 2005 will be recorded as a turning point in the history of Iraq, the history of the Middle East and the history of freedom. --December 2005

A new Iraqi government represents a strategic opportunity for America -- and the whole world, for that matter. This nation of ours and our coalition partners are going to work with the new leadership to strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve success, a victory in this war on terror . . . we believe this is a turning point for the Iraqi citizens, and it's a new chapter in our partnership. -- May 1, 2006

The progress we've made has been hard-fought, and it's been incremental. There have been setbacks and missteps -- like Abu Ghraib -- that were felt immediately and have been difficult to overcome. Yet we have now reached a turning point in the struggle between freedom and terror. -- May 22, 2006