Iraq is not "a colossal failure,” but "a mixed bag."

About those benchmarks.

UPDATE: The release of the report on progress in Iraq:

The report... said the Iraqi government had shown satisfactory performance so far on 8 of the 18 benchmarks, including providing brigades of troops to support security operations in Baghdad. But more work was needed on eight others, it said, including preparations for local elections. And in two areas, it was not yet possible to judge how things are going.

Mr. Bush sought to deflect the national discussion on Iraq away from the question of when and how to start withdrawing troops. “This is not the real debate,” he said. “The real debate over Iraq is between those who think the fight is lost, or not worth the cost, and those who believe the fight can be won.”

He added: “As difficult as the fight is, the cost of defeat would be higher. I believe we can succeed in Iraq, and I know we must.”...

[H]e said, “I don’t think Congress ought to be running the war; I think they ought to be funding our troops.” Running a war from Capitol Hill, he said, “is a prescription for failure.”...

He has said also that history’s judgment is more important to him than fleeting public opinion polls, and he struck that note today. Years from now, he said, when reporters visit “old, tired me down there in Crawford, I will be able to say I looked in the mirror and made decisions based upon principle, not based upon politics.”