Bush: meeting the press. Today, I watched the press conference by George W. Bush. He still, after 6 years in office, gives the same impression of somebody being asked to test in advanced calculus at a short notice. In fact, at some points, you can tell that he has crammed: that his aides have stuffed him with some data. And you know how when you are being tested, you throw in irrelevant facts that you remember because you know little, and you want to use whatever stuck in your memory? That is how Bush was. At one point, he said: "the terrorist Zarqawi, who is not an Iraqi..." I mean why did he have to say that Zarqawi was not an Iraq? It appears as if during preparation, he made the mistake and referred to Zarqawi as Iraqi, and he was then corrected and told that Zarqawi was not Iraqi. Probably, his aides told him minutes before the press conference: And remember, Zarqawi is not an Iraqi. So he remembered, give him credit. He explained the new security plan for Baghdad: one day he says it was formulated by the Maliki government, and other days he claims that it was formulated by the US military. Guess which account I believe? He then explains the elements of the new security plan: "and there will be violence." But my favorite part was when he defined success in Iraq: " Iraq will be a society in which there is relative peace. I say "relative peace" because if it's like zero car bombings, it never will happen that way." From promising to establish an exemplary democracy in the Middle East to hoping to achieve "relative peace" in Iraq. What a journey. And why did he keep pronouncing the Quds Force as Kuds Force?