When asked on 8-30-05 "Can we win [the war on terror]?"



Mr. Bush replied, "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."

Even if we "win" in Iraq, will Iraq support a government that is pro-US? Seeing as how the polls indicate that 80% of Iraqis want the US out, I doubt it.





We're in Iraq for the long haul. It is short-sighted to believe that we will "win" in conventional terms. We won't "win" until Iraq is transformed into the Japan or Britain of the Middle East; in other words we won't "win" until we turn them into our ally. It will take decades to do so.

idaniboy, here's the full quote:

LAUER: You said to me a second ago, one of the things you'll lay out in your vision for the next four years is how to go about winning the war on terror. That phrase strikes me a little bit. Do you really think we can win this war on terror in the next four years? PRESIDENT BUSH: I have never said we can win it in four years.

LAUER: So I’m just saying can we win it? Do you see that?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I don’t think you can win it.

Bush didn't say he didn't think we could win the war. he said he didn't think we could win it in four years....

nice try.

The defeatist attitudes are not the only problem. They stem from fringe-ist opinions and are held by only a very few. The problem is that he liberal MSM is propagating these ideas, amplifying them and portraying these attitudes as mainstream. They are not!

Here is how it works...:
http://www.rightviews.com/article.php?id=333

Matt, this is what the White House had to say about it...



White House spokesman Scott McClellan sought to clarify the president's remarks, telling reporters, "He was talking about winning it in the conventional sense ... about how this is a different kind of war and we face an unconventional enemy."



from here...

Matt, I wasn't trying to point any sense of defeatism in Bush's quote; but was drawing a parallel between the Iraq War and the War on Terror. Like the War on Terror, winning the War in Iraq war not only entails defeating the insurgents or terrorists, but ensuring that we win the "hearts and minds" or the Iraqi population and potential terrorists. If we do not do this, then Iraq will revert to its pre-war status after we leave and our 300 billion dollar war will have been a waste. One of the goals of invading Iraq was to make it pro-US and allow its exploitation by American oil companies and other corporations.



Considering that the majority of Iraqis want to see the US leave it will be a challenge to "win" their hearts and minds and make good on our investment there.

Dean is history.

Sorry, I pinged to the wrong address on the first trackback. Please delete the first trackback ping. Thanks.

What about real commitment. Lets bring the draft and have all Americans fight the war
or terrorism. This current administration
doesn’t have heart to finish the job.