The domestic politics of Iraq

The papers are filled with prepress for another "major" Bush speech on Iraq tomorrow in front of the VFW convention.

President Bush plans to argue today that a hasty "retreat" from Iraq would lead to the kinds of bloodbaths that followed U.S. withdrawals from Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1970s.

In a speech he is to deliver here at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention, Bush will also say that the recent increase of U.S. troops is producing military progress in the war-racked country.

"Will their elected leaders in Washington pull the rug out from under them just as they are gaining momentum and changing the dynamic on the ground in Iraq?" Bush says in prepared remarks released by the White House late Tuesday.

But what I think is actually more interesting than Bush is telling us he would have stayed in Vietnam regardless of the casualties, is the fact that this administration push will be backed by an astroturf "private" advertising campaign led by none other than Bush friend and loyalist, Ari Fleischer.

Freedom's Watch, a conservative group, plans to launch a $15 million advertising campaign in 20 states today. The group's spokesman, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, says the goal is to tell people that the buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq is working.

"We want to get the message to both Democrats and Republicans: Don't cut and run, fully fund the troops, and victory is the only objective," Fleischer says.

I'd love to know where that $15 million is coming from.

(The only thing I can gather from all this is that the administration has been hearing back early from the Congressional Republicans who have been getting pounded during this August recess.

I imagine the message is, "I can't stand out in front and defend your position, but I will vote with you if you can generate the support.")