The last throes of the Insurgency

About two weeks ago Vice President Dick Cheney, appearing on Larry King Live, made a statement that the insurgency in Iraq was in it's "last throes." He of course cited no evidence for such a statement. However, Washington Post.com reporter Dan Froomkin in his White House Briefing column posted an exchange between ABC's Terry Moran and White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, in which the reporter asked for said evidence of the "last throes" of the insurgency. It's about time the media starts asking some serious questions. Of course though the response doesn't even begin to answer the question... Update: Crook's and Liars has a copy of the video here

"Q [from ABC's Terry Moran] Scott, is the insurgency in Iraq in its last throes?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, you have a desperate group of terrorists in Iraq that are doing everything they can to try to derail the transition to democracy. The Iraqi people have made it clear that they want a free and democratic and peaceful future. And that's why we're doing everything we can, along with other countries, to support the Iraqi people as they move forward. The fact that they are making great progress on the political front is significant because that helps defeat the terrorists, because the terrorists don't want to see democracy take hold. They don't want lasting democratic institutions to be put in place. And that's why we are standing with the Iraqi people as they move forward on the political front.

"We're also standing with the Iraqi people as they move forward on -- to address the security situation. We are working side by side with Iraqi forces now to defeat those terrorists and regime elements who want to derail the transition to democracy. And every day we move forward on democracy and training Iraqi security forces is every day closer that we are to succeeding in Iraq.

"Q But the insurgency is in its last throes?

"MR. McCLELLAN: The Vice President talked about that the other day -- you have a desperate group of terrorists who recognize how high the stakes are in Iraq. A free Iraq will be a significant blow to their ambitions.

"Q But they're killing more Americans, they're killing more Iraqis. That's the last throes?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Innocent -- I say innocent civilians. And it doesn't take a lot of people to cause mass damage when you're willing to strap a bomb onto yourself, get in a car and go and attack innocent civilians. That's the kind of people that we're dealing with. That's what I say when we're talking about a determined enemy.

"Q Right. What is the evidence that the insurgency is in its last throes?

"MR. McCLELLAN: I think I just explained to you the desperation of terrorists and their tactics.

"Q What's the evidence on the ground that it's being extinguished?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, we're making great progress to defeat the terrorist and regime elements. You're seeing Iraqis now playing more of a role in addressing the security threats that they face. They're working side by side with our coalition forces. They're working on their own. There are a lot of special forces in Iraq that are taking the battle to the enemy in Iraq. And so this is a period when they are in a desperate mode.

"Q Well, I'm just wondering what the metric is for measuring the defeat of the insurgency.

"MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you can go back and look at the Vice President's remarks. I think he talked about it.

"Q Yes. Is there any idea how long a last throe lasts for?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Steve."