Bush surrounded by pessimists

President Bush:

You cannot expect the Iraqi people to stand up and do the hard work of democracy if you’re pessimistic about their ability to govern themselves. You cannot expect our troops to continue to do the hard work if they hear mixed messages from Washington, D.C.

Colin Powell, pessimist:

"We are fighting an intense insurgency. Yes it's getting worse and the reason it's getting worse is that they are determined to disrupt the election."

Gen. John Abizaid, pessimist:

I don't think we'll ever achieve perfection and when we look for perfection in a combat zone we're going to be sadly disappointed.... We're going to have to fight our way all the way through elections and there'll be a lot of violence between now and then.

At least they aren't sending mixed messages to the troops. They are very up front that they should look out for more car bombs, mortar attacks, insurgent gun fire...