Saying that congressional benchmarks set for the Iraqi government are not the proper measure of success, the Bush Administration today offered a more granular measurement of progress: sand.
Tony Snow, President Bush’s Spokesman, addressed benchmarks today saying, “Some of the benchmarks have been made, some of them haven’t…. Benchmarks are not a way to figure out how to get out of Iraq.” “You are not going to expect all the benchmarks to be met at the beginning of something,” Snow said as we enter the 52nd month of a war begun March 20, 2003. “That’s why instead of measuring our efforts against congressional benchmarks - we really ought to look at the amount of sand we have captured.” Snow estimated the sand contained in U.S. military equipment and clothing to be “in the millions of tons” and said that this “represents real progress - Iraq is a desert - we’re working to hold on to it.” It was unclear at press time whether Tony Snow’s estimate of sand capture included the sizable number of U.S.-hired contractors in the war - a number that now exceeds American troops in Iraq.
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