According to today's Washington Post President Bush has been telling friends that the situation in Iraq is not as bad as it might appear.

The seemingly unshakeable confidence in the rightness of his positions has helped the current president weather political storms that might overwhelm others. For a man who presides over an unpopular war, just lost Congress and faces a final two years with constrained options, Bush gives little sign of self-pity.

So what do you think? Is Bush a resolute president under fire or a man who is in almost total denial?