Tom,

I am convinced that no matter how bad the news may be, you will continue to avoid facing reality. In this case, you're clearly grasping for straws. This unequivocal support for Mr. Bush's reckless war in Iraq has become an article of faith for you. It doesn't matter how many people die, nor how much it costs, nor how bad the news may be each and every day, to you things are just fine.

This CIA report was leaked to the Philadephia Inquirer by administration insiders because they know if it wasn't leaked it might never get Mr. Bush's attention. Mr. Bush's information is filtered daily by his neocon aides and policy wonks. Fact is, he hasn't got a grip on reality himself.

Having worked personally with and for governors on a first name basis, I know precisely how isolated political leaders can get and how depeendent they are upon their staff and the information staff give them. In Mr. Bush's, he's not getting the full and complete picture from his immediate staff, and the CIA knows it. That's why they deliberately leaked this report. They're trying to get the President's attention from outside normal protocols.

Here's the article from the Philly Inq: CIA has a bleak analysis of Iraq

KEY QUOTES:

"The report landed on the desks of senior U.S. officials on Monday. Disclosures on the report's findings suggested senior policymakers want to make sure the assessment reaches Bush."

"Some senior policymakers have expressed frustration in efforts to provide Bush with more somber analyses of the situation in Iraq than the optimistic views presented by Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and other hard-liners."