'We will win' terror war, Bush clarifies

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ALLEMAN, Iowa -- President Bush yesterday acknowledged misspeaking when he called the war on terror unwinnable, but tried to put the flap behind him by claiming the election is starting to swing his way.

"I should have made my point more clear," Mr. Bush told radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. "I probably needed to be a little more articulate."

In an interview that aired Monday, Mr. Bush told NBC's Matt Lauer that "I don't think you can win" the war against terrorism. Democrats, though, say Mr. Bush made a telling admission two days ago, and boiled it down to a crisp sound bite.

"We went from 'Mission accomplished' in the war on terror to 'Mission impossible,' " said Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who is leading the Democratic Response Team in New York.

But the president said yesterday that "what I meant was that this is not a conventional war."

"In a conventional war, there would be a peace treaty or there would be a moment where somebody would sit on the side and say we quit," he said.

"That's not the kind of war we're in, and that's what I was saying," Mr. Bush added. "You cannot negotiate with these people."

The president telephoned Mr. Limbaugh, the nation's most influential radio talk-show host, hours after reassuring the American Legion's national convention in Nashville that the war on terror was indeed "one that we will win."

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry planned to address the Legion's convention today. The Massachusetts Democrat's campaign said the president's speech amounted to a "flip-flop" on a basic question of national security.

"George Bush might be able to read a speech saying we can win the war on terror," said Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer. "But as we saw yesterday, he's clearly got real doubts about his ability to do so and with good reason."