In a surprisingly honest assessment of the U.S. efforts and progress in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrote in a memorandum to senior staff at the Pentagon that was leaked to the media:
 

“It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.” (Associated Press, 10/23/03)

And According to the USA Today (10/23/03): 
 

In his two-page memo, Rumsfeld said it is “not possible” to change the Pentagon fast enough to “successfully” fight the war on terrorism, that the government has made little effort to craft a long-term plan for fighting terrorism and that U.S. forces have achieved only “mixed results” in destroying al-Qaeda.

However, the Associated Press reported on October, 12, 2003:
 

President Bush on Saturday offered a portrait of Iraq as a country where life is returning to normal after war, insisting that “Iraq is making progress” despite a steady drumbeat of bad news.  Bush said that progress was coming as a result of his “clear strategy.”

And just a few weeks ago, it was reported that the Bush Administration was launching a public relations offensive to defend its Iraq policy.  The Washington Post (10/8/03) quoted a senior administration official describing the PR campaign as: “This will be a sustained effort to talk to the nation about the progress we are making.”  

Schakowsky said, “Is President Bush overstating the successes of the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism publicly while his Administration officials are doubting that progress in private?  This is the disturbing question being raised by the Rumsfeld memo.”