Okay, exactly what the hell do they want? One week the administration gets crapped on for trying to push the good news. Now Rumsfeld is getting crapped on for pointing out that it isn't going to be a cakewalk. And largely by those "anonymous officials" again.

There is not one single member of the Bush administration who has claimed that the final victory in Iraq and Afghanistan was going to be instant or easy. What's the point of this article?

"We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people.

The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq.

...In the battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed the Taliban, many terrorists, and the camps where they trained. We continue to help the Afghan people lay roads, restore hospitals, and educate all of their children. Yet we also have dangerous work to complete. As I speak, a Special Operations task force, led by the 82nd Airborne, is on the trail of the terrorists and those who seek to undermine the free government of Afghanistan. America and our coalition will finish what we have begun.

...Our mission continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed. The scattered cells of the terrorist network still operate in many nations, and we know from daily intelligence that they continue to plot against free people. The proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious danger. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are we. Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend the homeland. And we will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike.

The war on terror is not over; yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory."

--Bush's speech on May 1st from the deck of the aircraft carrier. He is discussing both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Left so badly wants this to be another Vietnam. It was their last great victory, their last great celebration at what they saw as the defeat of "Amerika." I was there at the university at the time. I saw the celebrations when the helicopters were evacuating, and being tipped off aircraft carriers. It was better for them than sex.

Frankly, anyone who can possible compare the Iraq situation to Vietnam after a grand total of seven months since the invasion (from last Monday) is really reaching. The names on the Vietnam Memorial go from 1959 to 1975.

Short of formally announcing that they are going to shove shotguns in their mouths and fire them, is there anything Bush or Rumsfeld could say that would please the Left and the media?

I do like the chart in the article. The graph from 1992 on represents the "Clinton Military" the Left brags about.