"The President felt that further continued military operations would result in negative PR for the US, and would hurt us in our efforts to win Iraqi "hearts and minds". I think we have to trust President Bush on this. After all, he has not made any mistakes thus far."
The only thing thats happened on the "PR" front is the Presidents poll numbers took a huge hit since the "insurgency" began.
Its one thing to trust the President, which I do. That doesn't make me blind to what I believe is a big error by this Administration on this specific matter.
What your post tells me is the President is playing "not to lose" instead of "playing to win". He did this politically in the last week of the 2000 election, with the end result being the Floriduh fiasco (I will always believe his weak response to the DUI story cost him four percentage points among voters).
Its not a matter of "trust". Its a difference of opinion on what should have been done in this regard.
Well I have to think that President Bush gave this matter a lot of thought before he pulled the Marines back from Fallujah. I believe he made the correct decision. I am not saying you are wrong, based on what you/I know. I am only saying that President Bush perhaps knows more than any of us, and did a correct risk/benefit analysis.