Yesterday, with the formation of a permanent government in Baghdad, Bush declared that the War in Iraq was at a "turning point".
Another turning point? From the Gadflyer:
May, 2003 – As Bush played soldier aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, while real ones were dying, he proclaimed our "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq and a "turning of the tide" in the war on terror. State department reports on global terror beg to differ, of course.
July 2003 – The murder of Saddam’s two sons hailed as a turning point.
December 2003 – The capture of Saddam hailed as a turning point. In fairness, many people believed this was so and, as you’ll recall, Howard Dean was pilloried for suggesting otherwise.
May 2004 – Intensified US operations against Moqtada al-Sadr deemed a turning point (this from Sullivan when he was still desperately trying to defend his support for the war – he’s mostly given that up now).
January 2005 – Iraq’s first post-Saddam elections heralded as a turning point.
Bonus prediction from January 2005: McClellan called those elections a "body blow" to terrorists. Apparently, McClellan meant, from the terrorists’ perspective, the good kind of body blow.
March 2005 – RNC regards the (short-lived) drop in US casualties in Iraq following the January elections as a turning point.
December 2005 – Iraq’s parliamentary elections celebrated as a "turning point."