I believe the comment you are thinking about was made by a party official who declared the attacks as not an act of war.
There were many occasions. What disturbed me the most was
our willingness to set-aside our natural scepticism concerning comments by politicians and the media. Was the person speaking for the government? Was he quoted out of context? Was something missed in the translation? Was the comment designed for consumption by his own, limited constituency?
You are seeing the same sort of thing on this thread. Some unknown organization conducts a poll of unknown parameters, and it is duly picked-up by our media. 47% of the respondents "think" the US action is "failing."
Well, the action is ongoing, is it not? [rhetorical question]
Would that make it a "failure" until now? Who knows what these respondents were asked?