Defense Secretary on Iraq: So far, so good

Today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates helped blur any difference between him and Donald Rumsfeld.  On CBS' Face the Nation, Gates said the following about Bush's troop escalation:

"I think that the way I would characterize it is so far so good – it's very early," Gates told Bob Shieffer ."I would say that the Iraqis are meeting the commitments that they havemade to us, that they have made the appointments; the troops that theyhave promised are showing up. They are allowing operations in allneighborhoods. There is very little political interference withmilitary operations. So here, at the very beginning, the commitmentsthat have been made seem to be being kept."

That actually is not true.  According to a Washington Post report on Thursday, Bush Administration officials said that Iraqi progress is lagging behind the pace set under the Bush plan.

Also, seven more U.S. soldiers were killed this weekend.  Insurgents are continuing to use chemical weapons (chlorine, to be precise) in their attacks.  So no, it's not "so far so good."

This morning, famous GOP pollster Frank Luntz wrote a column that appeared in the Washington Post.  He reminded GOP leaders that they will not regain the support of a majority of voters until they start acknowledging reality.  Robert Gates is definitely not helping with that effort.