Matt Yglesias Ponders Bush's Disconnection from the Reality of Iraq:

TAPPED: September 2004 Archives: THE CEO PRESIDENT. Apparently, the president not only doesn't read the newspapers, he also doesn't get briefed by his top military commanders. What else to make of this?

QUESTION: Why haven't U.S. forces been able to capture or kill al-Zarqawi, who's blamed for much of the violence? And what's your answer to General John Abizaid's statement that, "I think we will need more troops than we currently have"?

BUSH: If that's what he says -- he was in my office this morning, he didn't say that to me. But if he were to say that, I'd listen to him. Just like I've said all along that when our commanders say that they need support, they'll get support, because we're going to succeed in this mission.

The first part of the question was how come we haven't found Zarqawi? We're looking for him. He hides. He's got an effective weapon and that is terror.

We can't find Abu al-Zarqawi because "he hides?" No wonder the president seems confused about whether or not he can win the war on terrorism. What was Bush expecting the terrorists to do -- turn themselves in? Besides, it's not as if Zarqawi's all that well hidden. He's in Falluja. We just can't get him because we don't control Falluja. And we don't control Falluja because Bush is manipulating the military strategy for political purposes. Besides that, we don't have enough troops. Which brings us to John Abizaid.

You can find coverage of Abizaid's remarks in newspapers and television networks throughout America. It's even in Canada. Has Bush seriously not heard about it? If Abizaid will tell the press he needs more troops, why won't he tell his commander-in-chief? Does Bush plan to ask Abizaid about it?

--Matthew Yglesias