The Red Queen

An Alice In Wonderland moment, brought to you thanks to Dan Froomkin, and the inimitable Tony Snow.

From Monday's briefing :

"Q One on Iraq again. Sorry. Just the simple question: Are we winning?

MR. SNOW: We're making progress. I don't know. How do you define 'winning'?

From yesterday's gaggle :

"Q Tony, does the deaths of 10 U.S. soldiers in Iraq today cause the President to rethink his strategy there?

"MR. SNOW: No, the strategy is to win. The President understands not only the difficulty of it, but he grieves for the people who have served and served with valor. But as everybody says, correctly, we got to win."

Meanwhile, on this side of the Looking Glass:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military acknowledged Thursday that its two-month drive to crush insurgent and militia violence in the Iraqi capital had fallen short, calling the raging bloodshed disheartening and saying it was rethinking its strategy to rein in gunmen, torturers and bombers.

The admission by military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell came as car bombs, mortar fire and shootings around the country killed at least 66 people and wounded 175. The dead included the Anbar province police commander, slain by gunmen who burst into his home in Ramadi.

The U.S. military also announced the deaths of three U.S. troops in fighting, raising the toll for American troops in October to 74. The month is on course to be the deadliest for U.S. forces in nearly two years.

No matter how you define winning, that can't be it.