Rebuilding as wars go on is hard, Bush says

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — President Bush said Wednesday that rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan as the wars rage on is proving difficult and “we’re learning as we go.”

The president harkened back to the patriotic sacrifice of World War II, the deadliest conflict in history, in again suggesting the country must hold firm and not lose its nerve.

“After World War II, we helped Germany and Japan build free societies and strong economies,” Bush said. “These efforts took time and patience, and as a result, Germany and Japan grew in freedom and prosperity. Germany and Japan, once mortal enemies, are now allies of the United States. And people across the world have reaped the benefits.”

The president spoke on a day intended solely for celebration, the commencement for more than 1,000 graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Yet Bush’s words were vastly overshadowed by those of the man who once spoke for him, Scott McClellan, the former press secretary. Stunning the White House, McClellan wrote in a new book that Bush favored propaganda over honesty in selling the war to the public.

McClellan’s scathing account, and the dominant news coverage it received, put Bush’s latest defense of war in a new context.

At a cold, drizzly football-stadium ceremony, Bush said the United States has an obligation to stick with Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the lesson is rooted in history.

The president acknowledged one of the many differences between the global conflict six decades ago and the ones that began under his watch: Today’s wars are not over.

History and war experts warn that Bush has at times oversimplified the comparison between postwar efforts in Japan and Germany and what’s unfolding in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After the end of World War II, enemies formally surrendered, hostilities ended, basic security existed, and local populations essentially accepted occupation and reconstruction.

Experts say those conditions don’t exist in Iraq and Afghanistan.