Bush: Well, SOME Iraqis are grateful
... for example, the ones we installed in office...

You may have already seen the Brokaw interview with Bush. But this quote bears a little examination:

Bush: “I think it's fair to say that, you know, that the enemy didn't lay down its arms like we had hoped.”

Brokaw: “And you were not greeted as liberators like Vice President Cheney said that you would be.”

Bush: “Well, I think we've been -- let me just -- I think we've been thanked by the people of Iraq. And I think you'll hear more of that from people like Prime Minister Alawi and the foreign minister, who both have repeatedly, ‘Thank you for what you've done, and by the way, help us.’

Now let me see here. Prime Minister Alawi is an exile with close ties to the CIA who was appointed Prime Minister to Iraq thanks to pressure from the U.S. Of course he said "thank you"--"thank you for appointing me Prime Minister"! How exactly is his gratitude proof of the gratitude of Iraqis as a whole? Just saying...

Now, this brings us back to Reagan's death and its potential benefits for Bush. From the New York Times:

For Mr. Bush, the blackout may have been a blessing as well as a curse. Had Mr. Reagan not died when he did, the world might have focused more intently on Mr. Bush and on the contrast between the consensus that surrounded World War II, and the doubts and recriminations over the war in Iraq. When asked about the prewar planning in an interview with Tom Brokaw on NBC, Mr. Bush said, "I think it's fair to say that - you know, that - the enemy didn't lay down its arms like we had hoped."

Yes, that's right--Bush is trying to compare his War on Terror to World War II. And some cartoonists seem to agree, with plenty of digs about the "ungrateful" French and wimpy liberals. Ugh.