al qaeda's last throes

* tpmm: "The "Eastern liberal press" is to blame for his troubles, says Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)."

* Tony Snow via holden:

"MR. SNOW: Well, there was a time when -- and I don't want to try to back-interpret what the Vice President said ("Last throes") , but let me just offer at least one view on it, which is, for a long time, when we talked about insurgency -- that is, "we," generally, Americans -- we thought of al Qaeda. And I think it's pretty safe to say that the al Qaeda and the foreign fighters remnant presence in Iraq has been dramatically reduced, such that, at least, in the opinions of people there, it is no longer the major factor when it comes to what's going on....

Again, I don't want to try to back-interpret what the Vice President said. But I do think that one of the significant changes from the weeks and months after the end of major combat activities in Iraq and today is that that al Qaeda presence has been dramatically, very dramatically reduced -- but it does mean that we still do have opposition within former elements"

got that?