“President Bush said that his Iraq policy was headed to ‘a slow failure’ until he changed course last week with the announcement that he was sending more than 21,000 additional U.S. troops to bolster flagging security in Baghdad. The comment, perhaps the president’s frankest admission that the previous strategy was not working, came during an interview yesterday [January 16, 2007] with Jim Lehrer of PBS’s ‘NewsHour,’ in which Bush detailed some of his decision-making regarding Iraq. ‘I had a choice to make,’ Bush said. ‘Do what we’re doing–and one could define that maybe a slow failure. Secondly, withdraw out of Baghdad and hope for the best. I think that would be expedited failure. And thirdly is to help this Iraqi government with additional forces–help them do what they need to do, which is to provide security in Baghdad.’ Bush added: ‘I chose the latter because I think it’s going to more likely be successful.’ ”
– Michael Abramowitz, “President Says His Iraq Policy was Failing,” The Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2007