Wrong on Iraq. Wrong on Terror - President Bush version.

All of Bush's rhetoric on Iraq, "stay the course," "finish the mission," etc, is predicated on the unstated assumption that Iraq, watered with enough blood, will eventually reach his vision. Today, we have another candidate. (With Wolf Bitzer)

BUSH: Yes, you see — you see it on TV, and that's the power of an enemy that is willing to kill innocent people. But there's also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people…. Admittedly, it seems like a decade ago. I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is — my point is, there's a strong will for democracy. (emphasis added)

The assumption of "the comma," beyond minimizing the death of 2,700 and wounding of over 20,000 thus far, rests firmly on that belief that the middle east will suddenly emerge as Bush's fantasy.

But there is another possibility.

If Iraq eventually represents the loss of the middle east, that "comma" will instead be the long paragraph on the corrupt Roman rulers and how their incompetence and graft in the face of a failing situation led to the humbling of a great empire. We're 1600 years from those Roman emperors and it's not a comma yet, Mr. President.

Don't misunderestimate your role in history.

You are indeed historic.