HOW CAN BUSH SAY THERE IS "PROGRESS" WHEN CIVILIAN DEATHS IN IRAQ UP IN AUGUST?

The spin from Bush and Cheney on how the surge has make "progress" in Iraq is truly amazing. Even some reporters fall disingenuously for the "truth" of the assertion. Last night on Washington Week in Review, even the veteran reporter and editor Doyle McManus glibly and, in my view, naively accepted the baseless claim that there has been "some progress."

Now today we have a report from Dan Yates of Reuters that there has been a spike in Iraqi civilian deaths in August.

Writes Dan Yates:

"Civilian deaths from violence in Iraq rose in August, with 1,773 people killed, government data showed on Saturday, just days before the U.S. Congress gets a slew of reports on President George W. Bush's war strategy. The civilian death toll was up 7 percent from 1,653 people killed in July, according to figures from various ministries."

So how does George W. Bush measure progress? If the number of civilian deaths for August in Iraq is up by more than 100 from July, totalling at least 1,773 people, how can this be "progress?"