End of year U.S. thought that insurgents were defeated. Number of intelligence reports to Bush in December said otherwise.
Are you implying that President Bush thought the insurgents (and insurgency) were defeated, and that perhaps he discounted the intelligence reports that "said otherwise"?

I ask because although Cheney may have been running his mouth about the future of the insurgency, everyone on the ground at that time knew we were still in a very hot fight.