You’ll want to sit down and take a deep breath before you continue to read. I’m going to defend the president. Our president… of the U.S…. Mr. Bush… really I am.

He’s been taking a beating of late for saying we can’t win the war on terror. The trouble is, like so many things in politics, that statement was taken out of context. What he actually said when asked if we could win the war on terror was,

“I don’t think you can win it. I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world.”

He’s right about that. The war, as it were, cannot be won in the conventional sense. The best we can hope for is to create a sufficient deterrent such that terror ceases to become the tool of choice.

I’m sorry, but the democrats are idiots for drilling Bush on saying the war can’t be won. It would be much more effective to point out that he has obviously conceded that there is no point at which we will be able to declare “Mission Accomplished”.

The war on terror is much like the so-called war on drugs. Massive enforcement efforts have spent lots of money, incarcerated many, and done little to stem the demand for drugs. Less direct programs which remove the desire or social acceptability of drugs are ultimately the only way to “win”. And even then, it requires ongoing vigilance. There is no point that you can walk away from the drug issue and assume you’ve licked the problem. Like dandelions in your yard, it will rear it’s head as soon as you ignore it.

So why Mr. Bush, given that you now claim to understand the true nature of the terror issue, are you still actively pursuing a military solution? You cannot drive terror into submission by force. You only push it further underground and steel its resolve. Ultimately making the situation worse if you ever yield the force which is holding the terror at bay. You acknowledge that there is no exit strategy for the military effort you have launched. You acknowledge that the military cannot achieve your stated objective. Yet you relentlessly pursue the course anyway.

Your quote above, taken in it’s full context, gives me a ray of hope that you at long last understand the implications of what you’ve led us into. Yet your reelection campaign is predicated on “staying the course”. Talk about being between rocks and hard places…