The president on May 2, 2003: "The Battle of Iraq is one victory in the broader war on terror that began on September 11th, 2001, and still goes on."

On May 3, 2003: "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that still goes on."

On July 21, 2004: "I want to be the peace president. The next four years will be peaceful years."

(Emphasis mine). Hat tip to Matt Yglesias who put it all together.

Maybe when Bush says that "the next four years will be peaceful years", he means that the war on terror won’t involve actual combat anymore.

But Matt is prepared for that as well:

[W]asn’t the problem with the Democratic approach to terrorism supposed to be that they thought of it as a matter for law enforcement and intelligence rather than a real war?

Honestly, I don’t know what is going on with Bush’s speechwriters sometimes. A day after Bush makes the entirely reasonable, appropriate and long overdue announcement that he is looking into Iran’s WMD programs and al Qaeda connections, they expect the public to swallow a Bush statement like "The next four years will be peaceful years"? How can he make such an assertion?? (Remind anyone of "Read my lips . . ."?)