By host Tom Ashbrook:

President Bush moves tonight to a largely domestic agenda in his State of the Union speech, but the state of his presidency is defined more than ever, in the latest polls, by Iraq. His call for a surge in troop strength has not caught fire. Former Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee John Warner is the latest to break ranks in opposition. But the troops are going in.

The first additional 3200 soldiers of the 82nd Airborne have now arrived in Baghdad. And US troops are dying. An astonishing thirty dead over the weekend. Many more Iraqis. New Iraq commander General David Patreaus is testifying this morning on the Iraqi crucible.

This hour On Point: in advance of the president’s speech, a reality check on Iraq.

Guests:

Kenneth Walsh, chief White House correspondent for US News & World Report

Borzou Daragahi, Baghdad bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times

Andrew Bacevich, professor of international relations at Boston University and author of “The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War”

Andrew Krepinevich, Executive Director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.