Here's as pure a crock of shit as you're likely to hear all day.

Ed Gillespie: "I do think there is a general view that the surge is having its desired effect."

The White House believes it has made significant progress over the last month in swaying public and political opinion toward supporting a continued U.S. military effort in Iraq, one of President Bush's closest advisers said in an interview.

"The end of the August feels a lot better than the beginning of August when it comes to where we are relative to perceptions of our Iraq policy and what is working," said Ed Gillespie, counselor to the president.

...

Political reconciliation among Iraqi Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds remains elusive, but even there, a still-nebulous power-sharing agreement was reached by all three factions last weekend, which Mr. Gillespie cited as an improvement.

"Even (the lack of political reconciliation) has changed since last week. We are seeing progress now," Mr. Gillespie said. "I do think there is a general view that the surge is having its desired effect."...[Open in new window]