Looking Past The Bloodshed

I'm here to tell you folks, the emperor has no clothes, and what's more - he seems to have precious little connection to the real world anymore. He said he could "understand people being disheartened" but appealed to Americans to look beyond the bloodshed and see signs of progress.
Progress: noun -
1. Movement, as toward a goal; advance.
2. Development or growth: students who show progress.
3. Steady improvement, as of a society or civilization: a believer in human progress.
4. A ceremonial journey made by a sovereign through his or her realm.
The movement toward a goal: Not so much. If the goal was to incite and inflict civil war in a region that is noted for its instability, then maybe I've got this one wrong.
Development or growth? A burgeoning hatred of all things American across the globe? Well then maybe I've been too quick to judge here.
Steady improvement would imply improvement in the first place. If returning electricity and water to areas that had water and electricity prior to our disruption of same is improvement, then yes, we're making some in-roads.
Now, this last one - about a ceremonial journey made by a sovereign - that seems to be the most likely parallel here. My mind culls all the sundry photo-ops for His Royal Pinheadedness and his minions, and I can't help but think that for this sovereign, "Mission Accomplished."