By Mark Silva

By Mark Silva

That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it? Any byline by this shameless hack signals another waste of ink and pulp defending the indefensible.

Try this one:

As he attempts to chart a “new way forward’’ in Iraq, President Bush again is striving to frame the conflict there as central to a broader struggle against world terrorism – despite analysis both from inside and outside the administration that worsening sectarian violence inside Iraq is responsible for a greater share of the increasing casualties there than any acts of terrorism.

Pssst, Mark, the casualties in Iraq have not resulted from “terrorism” as that term is generally used. The violence in Iraq results from sectarian clashes and from resistance to the U.S. invasion and the attempted installation of a stooge government.

You keep on tryin’ though, Lil’ Feller, and maybe someday you and your beloved preznit will find that elusive “way forward.”