Factchecking the State of the Union

Safety in Numbers?
Bush left out a bit of the back story of the sheer numbers of Iraqi Security Forces.

Bush: Today, this grassroots surge includes more than 80,000 Iraqi citizens who are fighting the terrorists. The government in Baghdad has stepped forward as well, adding more than 100,000 new Iraqi soldiers and police during the past year.

It's certainly worth pointing out that at least 60,000 of the Iraqi citizens to which Bush refers – they're called "Concerned Local Citizens" by the U.S. military – are under contract with the U.S. military and being paid about $300 a month. That's according to the latest Brookings Institution Iraq Index report, published in December, which puts the total number of concerned citizens at 72,000.

As for the new Iraqi soldiers and police, many questions remain as to how well those forces are able to provide security for the country. The Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, headed by retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, published a cautiously optimistic report on the subject in September, saying that it wasn't clear that the national police "can contribute to Iraqi security and stability in a meaningful way." As for the Iraqi Army, the report said that the Iraqi Minister of Defense predicted "the Army would be 60 percent capable of independently protecting Iraq from external threats by 2012 and entirely independent in this regard by 2018."

Right on Iran
Bush was accurate in his assessment of Iran.

Bush: Iran is funding and training militia groups in Iraq, supporting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, and backing Hamas' efforts to undermine peace in the Holy Land. Tehran is also developing ballistic missiles of increasing range and  continues to develop its capability to enrich uranium, which could be used to create a nuclear weapon.