“The White House report released today, on how far Iraq has progressed toward 18 political and military benchmarks, is a sham.” Well, Dubya may point to the split-decision Iraq interim report as grounds for optimism, but Slate‘s Fred Kaplan, for one, ain’t buying it: “[A] close look at the 25-page report reveals a far more dismal picture and a deliberately distorted assessment…The report card was rigged from the outset by how the White House defined ‘satisfactory.’“