MILBANK RESPONDS

It seems as if Dana Milbank, one of the most ferociously anti-Bush White House reporters, is mighty steamed by the president’s visit to Iraq. He did get Rich Bond to give him his nut graf, but when a reporter is quoting Sid Blumenthal on president Bush, you know he’s scraping the barrel. The message to the Iraqis? Not that Bush is intent on victory. But rather that “Bush doesn’t think their country is secure. It underscores the insecurity, and it conveys insularity.” A president occupying a country thousands of miles away conveys “insularity.” Ohhh-kay. And the strong commitment to the task at hand would merely one day come back to haunt the president, as the “chaotic and dangerous situation” in Iraq eventually proves, er, Dana Milbank right. Memo to Dana: I know it was Thanksgiving yesterday, but you can sure make your anti-Bush screeds a little subtler than this one. Ask Pincus. He’ll help.