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Bush likens Iraq strife to WWII's

He pledges to stay in 21st century's 'decisive ideological struggle,' as election and Sept. 11 near

BY CRAIG GORDON | Newsday Washington Bureau

September 1, 2006

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush tried to bolster Iraq war support yesterday by comparing Islamic radicals to the Nazi foe in World War II and saying defeat in Iraq would imperil "the security of the civilized world."

"The war we fight today is more than a military conflict," Bush said, casting the fight against terrorism as the natural progression of American wars past. "It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century."

Bush's comments marked the start of a three-week election-year blitz - with the Sept. 11 anniversary as its emotional centerpiece - to win back a public soured on the war and Bush's handling of it.

The White House is trying to convince a war-weary public that the stakes are too great in Iraq to leave too soon, while sharply accusing Democrats of being defeatists who would do just that, a charge they deny.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld mounted that line of attack against Democrats earlier this week, comparing war critics to appeasers who allowed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to stay in power before World War II. Bush steered clear of such slashing rhetoric yesterday by criticizing Democrats in more muted tones. Pulling out troops too soon would lead to "absolutely disastrous" results, he said, including the prospect of more terror attacks on U.S. soil.

Democrats have struck back hard at GOP comments this week and said yesterday it was Bush who made America less safe by pursuing the war ahead of the hunt for al-Qaida and overstretching the military.

"The American people know that five years after September 11th, we are not as safe as we should and could be," Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said.

Bush's latest series of Iraq war speeches would be his third in a year - despite the fact that the previous two led to no lasting or significant improvement in public attitudes toward the war. Just one in three Americans now approves of Bush's handling of the war, a new AP-Ipsos poll shows.

And for voters looking for answers on when troops might start coming home, Bush offered nothing new as a possible timetable or strategy for bringing the war to a close.

Instead, Republican strategists say the White House is betting that they still can score political points on the same issue that propelled them to victory in 2002 and 2004 - being tougher on terrorism than the Democrats. Bush will mark the Sept. 11 anniversary by visiting all three sites hit by terrorists that day.

Political analysts are skeptical the strategy can work as well for Republicans trying to hold the House and Senate this fall - mainly because they believe events on the ground will convince the public things are getting better in Iraq.

"It's not like 2004, when the president can dominate the discussion," said Stu Rothenberg, an independent political analyst. "It requires turning around people who've already made up their minds the president hasn't done a good job, and that's hard."

In Bush's speech before an American Legion convention in Salt Lake City, he sought to draw a direct line from Nazis and fascists in World War II through to Islamic radicals today - even though some, like Sunni and Shia militants battling for control in Iraq, are sworn enemies. Bush argues they all share a common hatred of freedom and democracy, but some analysts say the argument also allows Bush to remind Americans of one war that was both victorious and popular - World War II.