Bush heads to the United Nations today to ask for money and troops, but don't expect any mea culpas. That wouldn't poll well.

President Bush will tell the other members of the United Nations Tuesday that the organization is relevant after all -- at least when it comes to helping the United States finish what it started in Iraq.

It would have been difficult in any event to hold out much hope for Bush's success in prying troops and money out of an organization at which he thumbed his diplomatic nose. It'll be a fool's errand if, as predicted, the president will be unrepentant on his decision to go it alone in Iraq. (Seattle P-I)

According to the officials involved in drafting the speech, for an audience they know will range from the skeptical to the angry, Mr. Bush will acknowledge no mistakes in planning for postwar security and reconstruction in Iraq. Privately, however, many officials are acknowledging that the Pentagon was unprepared for the scope and duration of the continuing guerrilla-style attacks against the American-led alliance and the newly appointed Iraqi Governing Council. (New York Times)