Although he was candid about his frustrations, Bush's mood in the Oval Office could be described as conditionally optimistic. He asked that we not characterize him as "trying to always put lipstick on the pig." He's realistic about the obstacles and the stakes.

At times the president seemed restless. One got the feeling he wanted to jump up on a chair with a bullhorn and shout: "What is wrong with you people?!"

In a quieter voice, he said: "I am in disbelief that people don't take these people (extremists) seriously." And, "Much of the thinking and decision-making that I do now is based upon my belief that we're in this grand ideological struggle. ... We need to be on the offense all the time."

That our continued liberty ultimately depends on liberty elsewhere seems an inarguable, if inconvenient, truth. The extremists who seek to subsume or destroy the West are relentless, patient and brutal.

If we leave Iraq too soon, they, indeed, will feel emboldened and see America as weak-willed. Our position may not be hopeless, but nor is it promising.

Whatever Bush's big picture perspective may suggest to him, discouraged Americans -- including most in the Democratic Party -- insist that Iraq was an unnecessary war of choice. There were, after all, no weapons of mass destruction.

Bush finally acknowledges the absence of WMD as "not encouraging," but insists that he made the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein. (It is worth recalling that even the possibility of Saddam's having WMD was unacceptable at the time.)

He also insists that Iraq is a central part of the war on terror, and that what happens there will affect what happens elsewhere, including Iran and Syria.

Bush talked of his efforts to build an alliance of reasonable people to clash with the radicals, though not necessarily militarily. He said he hopes to convince Syria to join the U.S. in the struggle, adding that military action should be the last option.

"I want people whose loved ones will be in harm's way ... to know that we tried everything else first."

At this point, the only real question, said Bush, is whether we can help the Iraqi government succeed. "Not only can we help them, we must help them," he said.

Which means not leaving. Which means not losing. Which means winning, maybe, as currently defined.