White House continues to move the goal line.

The Bush administration will not try to assess whether the troop increase in Iraq is producing signs of political progress or greater security until September, and many of Mr. Bush’s top advisers now anticipate that any gains by then will be limited, according to senior administration officials.

In interviews over the past week, the officials made clear that the White House is gradually scaling back its expectations for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. The timelines they are now discussing suggest that the White House may maintain the increased numbers of American troops in Iraq well into next year.

It has been clear for quite some time that this administration is simply trying to find some way to leave the failure of the Iraq war on the doorstep of somebody else. This is a criminal endeavor that is becoming even more desperate as the months go by.

They have tried, so far without success, to goad the Democrats into cutting the war funding so that they can then blame the failure in Iraq on the unpatriotic actions of the Democrats. But since the Democrats have failed to take the bait they are now trying to appear as if they are utilizing different tactics in Iraq which are simply diversions to hold the media's focus while they slowly move toward 2008 when they can leave this albatross around the neck of the next President.

But in the meanwhile they are not simply using up time, they are using up the lives of our fellow Americans. Essentially everybody in the world knows this thing is lost and George Bush's arrogance and inability to admit wrongdoing is costing children their parents and mothers their sons. How many more precious lives will be lost in this conflict?

If this is not the very definition of cowardice then I don't know what is.