WASHINGTON -- The continuing reports of tumult and casualties from Iraq and contentious hearings by the Presidential Commission to Investigate September 11th have sucked the oxygen out of the media pipes this month.
Much of it is bad news for President George W. Bush. The mounting casualties and the riotous conditions shown on television present a picture of an Iraq out of control and not nearly ready to take over its own sovereignty after June 30.
The commission hearings have banged away at both the Clinton and the Bush presidencies for laxities in their efforts to thwart terrorism. The bulk of the testimony, though, has questioned the nine months of activity, or inactivity, of the Bush administration before Sept. 11, 2001. None of this has been pleasant for Bush and his political advisers.