“I Don’t Think You Can Win It”

It may change in the coming hours, but right now the home page of The New York Times features a banner headline that reads:

"Giuliani Lauds Bush's Leadership on Terror"

Just below this is another headline:

"Bush Cites Doubts America Can Win War on Terror."

In standard English, that headline would read "Bush Doubts America Can Win War on Terror" — the doubts that he "cites" are no one's but his own, as Elisabeth Bumiller reports:

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.

In the interview with Matt Lauer of the NBC News program "Today," conducted on Saturday but shown on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, Mr. Bush was asked if the United States could win the war against terrorism, which he has made the focus of his administration and the central thrust of his re-election campaign.

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

This is exactly the kind of nuanced, agonized, flip-floppery of which Bush and his surrogates are always accusing his opponents. (Tim Dunlop has some fun with this.) It also contrasts dramatically with the statements made later that very day by speakers at the Republican National Convention.

To illustrate that contrast, I've put together the following responsive reading, juxtaposing George W. Bush's wishy-washy pessimism with the image of the strong, decisive and determined leader portrayed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in their primetime speeches last night:

GIULIANI: So long as George Bush is our president, is there any doubt [terrorists] will continue to hear from us until we defeat global terrorism?

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

McCAIN: My friends in the Democratic Party — and I'm fortunate to call many of them my friends — assure us they share the conviction that winning the war against terrorism is our government's most important obligation.