'We can't win war on terror' -- G. W. Bush

When they're not complaining about Howard Dean and Democrats bad-mouthing the war in Iraq, the Republican National Committee is spreading the good news about the war on terror, how we're winning, and Republican support for it.

Today, the RNC falsely claimed that President Bush has always predicted victory in the War on Terror, and argued in a release that “President Bush Never Said We Couldn't Win And Has Laid Out Stategy for Victory.” In fact, last summer, on the first day of his convention, President Bush told Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today Show” that he didn’t think “we can win it.”

NBC, "The Today Show", 8/30/04

MATT 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 of ter--on terror? For example, in the next four years?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I have never said we can win it in four years.

MATT LAUER: No, I'm just saying, can we win it? Do you say that?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I don't--I don't think we can win it.

New York Times Headline: "Bush Cites Doubt America Can Win War on Terror." "President Bush, in an interview broadcast on Monday, said he did not think America could win the war on terror but that it could make terrorism less acceptable around the world, a departure from his previous optimistic statements that the United States would eventually prevail." [New York Times, 8/31/04]

Hat tip: Ye Old DNC.