President Bush took advantage of a vacationing Congress, a surprise visit to once-restive Anbar province and supportive words from Australia's prime minister to trumpet his claims of progress in Iraq.

By Aamer Madhani and Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune WASHINGTON -- Soon after the Iraq report card arrived on Capitol Hill on Thursday, skeptical Democrats depicted the Bush administration's positive outlook as a cynical attempt to put a fine gloss on an increasingly grim situation.

WASHINGTON _ Soon after the Iraq report card arrived on Capitol Hill on Thursday, skeptical Democrats depicted the Bush administration's positive outlook as a cynical attempt to put a fine gloss on an increasingly grim situation.

President Bush on Tuesday chose Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon's director of operations and a former leader of U.S. military forces in the Middle East, to oversee the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a war czar.

By DEB RIECHMANN WASHINGTON - Now that the White House is searching for a "war czar," it begs the question of who has been coordinating U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan the past four years.