For the Bush administration, the marketing of the "surge" in Iraq more and more looks like an ad for a Hollywood flop. In this case, the box office numbers are in and the film is a dismal failure. And yet a small but reliable group of friendly critics continues to offer rave reviews for "Iraq: The Surge."
No doubt, the tidal wave of bad news this week confirms Bush's Iraq escalation has achieved Ishtar-level disaster status. A mandated interim progress report on the surge due to Congress on Sunday will show that the Iraqi government has failed to meet any of the U.S benchmarks. The government of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Al Maliki teeters on the brink of a no-confidence vote, just days after one of the war's worst suicide bombings. In the six months since the U.S. escalation was announced, 590 more American troops have been killed and another 3,575 wounded. Attacks on American supply convoys are up, while the U.S. Army missed its recruiting goal for the second consecutive month. Speaking to the BBC in Baquba, General David Petraeus cautioned that the Iraq struggle might come to resemble Northern Ireland, which "took a long time, decades." Meanwhile, Turkey is massing troops on Iraq's northern border and threatens incursions against Kurdish rebels based there.
And as President Bush goes to Cleveland to make his latest pitch, some of the most faithful members of his audience are getting squeamish. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and George Voinovich (R-OH) have called for a change in Iraq strategy. Indiana GOP stalwart Richard Lugar concluded, "In my judgment, the current surge strategy is not an effective means of protecting [U.S.] interests." It's no wonder White House press secretary Tony Snow has been reduced to dissembling, denying the White House is debating troop withdrawals while comically claiming "If you look at what Senator Lugar has said about the surge so far, he says that it's working."
And yet from some, the reviews are simply smashing. Like those tiny glowing ad snippets from little-known and even less respected sources like WBAI, Entertainment Weekly or even say Proctology Today, the makers of the Iraq surge fiasco can always count on them.
For example, take Iraq escalation co-architect Frederick Kagan. On June 29, he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that success "is quite likely." At an American Enterprse Institute event this weekend, Kagan crowed:

"The worst that can be said of [the escalation] at this point is that the results have been mixed. I frankly think the results are less mixed...Whatever you can say about the current strategy, it has not failed."

At the Weekly Standard, long-time Iraq war cheerleader Bill Kristol proclaimed on Monday that the surge is working "better than expected." A chickenhawk himself who never served in the military, Kristol offered President Bush some martial advice in warding off his surge critics:

"When you find yourself in an ambush, attack into the ambush. Don't twist and turn in the kill zone, looking for a way to retreat. Especially when the ambush is not a powerful one, and the Democrats' position (to mix military metaphors) is way overextended."

Meanwhile, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham lauded the Bush escalation in Iraq. A veteran of both the armed forces and an April shoppng spree in Baghdad ("I bought five rugs for five bucks"), Graham concluded Saturday:

"The military part of the surge is working beyond my expectations. We literally have the enemy on the run."

Other surge reviewers on the right were somewhat more cautious with their praise. GOP White House wannabe Mike Huckabee loves the film, but regrets President Bush didn't make it a bigger special effects blockbuster. Asked if the U.S. should commit more troops, Huckabee answered "it's possible," adding:

"We have to make a decision - do we either pull them out or do we put whatever is necessary to make sure we don't leave it in a bigger mess than we started with."

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander wishes Bush's Iraq surge had followed the book, or more accurately, the Iraq Study Group report. Despite the Baker-Hamilton commission's call for a draw down of U.S. forces in December 2006, Alexander offered up this puzzler:

"It should be clear to the president that there needs to be a new strategy...The surge can be within this larger strategy of the Iraq Study Group."

One of President Bush's biggest cheerleaders of the surge is in fact a professional film reviewer. Michael Medved, the movie critic turned neo-con radio host, will always deliver positive reviews for the President.
All in all, these die-hard supporters of the Bush surge have been watching a different movie than everyone else. Sadly, they're the only ones the President appears to be listening to and their advice won't change regardless of the reality on the ground in Iraq.
Not, that is, until next year as the 2008 elections and likely Republican disaster at the ballot-box loom larger. Come next summer, they will no doubt sing the praises of President Bush's next blockbuster, "Iraq: The Withdrawal."