Bush: No policy changes on Iraq

Contrary to Ken Mehlman's brave attempt to remove "stay the course" from public discourse and replace it with "adapt and win," several papers are reporting that Bush is still a stay the course kinda guy. The reports are on a recent meeting with Middle East specialists, in which Bush expressed frustration that he isn't being hailed as a hero in Iraq, but that he'll keep trying.

The NY Times had the following to say:

President Bush made clear in a private meeting this week that he was concerned about the lack of progress in Iraq and frustrated that the new Iraqi government — and the Iraqi people — had not shown greater public support for the American mission, participants in the meeting said Tuesday.

So much for all those corners we've turned. The LA Times focuses on Bush's unwillingness to change tactics, particularly the notion of partitioning the country:

Rejecting a policy alternative that has been gaining support in the U.S. and abroad, Bush told the experts that dividing Iraq would be "like pouring oil on fire," said Eric M. Davis of Rutgers University, one of the experts who met with the president Monday over Texas brisket and iced tea at the Pentagon.

The experts said in interviews that Bush signaled that he intended to make no policy changes in Iraq, despite warnings from military leaders and election-year arguments from Democrats that the war is a drain on resources and a distraction from the administration's campaign against terrorism.

Put 'em both together, and you've got a president who acknowledges that we aren't making progress, but refuses to do anything about it.