Frank Pallone: “President Bush says progress is being made in Iraq, but many of the examples he pointed to in the nationally televised…”

“President Bush says progress is being made in Iraq, but many of the examples he pointed to in the nationally televised speech last week were overestimated or overly optimistic. Let me just cite a couple examples. First, President Bush said, ``Iraq's national leaders are getting some things done, such as sharing oil revenues with the provinces.'' But according to the Washington Post, the President's statement ignored the fact that U.S. officials have been frustrated that none of these actions have become law and that a possible compromise has collapsed. The President also thanked ``the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq.'' But if he had checked with his own State Department, he would have realized that only 25 countries are still involved in the war, supplying only 11,600 troops. Now, that is less than 7 percent of the size of the U.S. forces still on the ground. Mr. Speaker, this is nothing new. The President has been painting rosy scenarios for the situation in Iraq from the very beginning. Time and time again they have been proven wrong. The status quo simply can't continue. It is time to change course.”