Triumphalism Amid the Wreckage

Q. "But some say, sir, that the removal of Saddam Hussein has bolstered Iran and make emergent as a regional superpower."

Bush: "I disagree completely with that. I think the emergence of a democratic and stable Iraq on Iran's border is in the -- will help more likely keep the peace vis-à-vis Iran in the Middle East. . . . "

Q. "How would you like the people in the Middle East to remember you?"

Bush: "I would hope they would remember me as George W. Bush, as a man who respects their religion, respects human rights and human dignity, and prays for peace."

And Don't Forget We've Nearly Won in Iraq

Holly Rosenkrantz writes for Bloomberg: "President George W. Bush said the war in Iraq is entering a 'new stage' now that the country has approved a security agreement that gives American forces three years to leave the country."

Here's Bush's Saturday radio address: "The American people have sacrificed a great deal to reach this moment. The battle in Iraq has required a large amount of time and a large amount of money. Our men and women in uniform have carried out difficult and dangerous missions and endured long separations from friends and family. And thousands of our finest citizens have given their lives to make our country safer and bring us to this new day. The war in Iraq is not yet over -- but thanks to these agreements and the courage of our men and women in Iraq, it is decisively on its way to being won."

As for Afghanistan

David E. Sanger writes in the New York Times: "The Bush administration is preparing to present President-elect Barack Obama with a lengthy, classified strategy review aimed at reversing the gains that militants have made in destabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan. . . .

"'We've gone seven long years proclaiming that Pakistan was an ally and that it was doing everything we asked in the war on terror,' said one senior official involved in drafting the report. 'And the truth is that $10 billion later, they still don't have the basic capacity for counterinsurgency operations. What we are telling Obama and his people is that has to be reversed.' . . .

"As recently as 2006, Mr. Bush would speak regularly of eventual 'victory' in Afghanistan, as he did in Iraq. He is leaving office declaring that the so-called military surge in Iraq was successful, and with a status of forces agreement that calls for the withdrawal of the bulk of the American force over the next two years. But he has said little about Afghanistan, where the fighting has worsened, and the strategy review was premised on intelligence assessments that said that the United States was not losing the war, but was in danger of losing ground."

The Bush Loyalists

Ken Herman writes for Cox News Service that for "some of the longtime Bushies, it was the recount -- and all it meant in the tumultuous weeks following the 2000 election -- that set the tone for a presidency that was challenged before it began."

Bush political guru Karl Rove was among those Herman interviewed. "Much of Washington, Rove said, never accepted Bush as a legitimate president and 'acted accordingly.' . . .

"From the Colorado vacation home that Bush's career helped him purchase, longtime adviser Mark McKinnon also talks about how things turned out. . . .