A DAY after telling Americans the war on terrorism could not be won, George W. Bush has reversed himself with a claim he had been inarticulate and that victory was assured.

The U-turn from the US President, who regularly attacks his Democrat rival Senator John Kerry for changing his position, followed accusations by Democrats he had thrown in the towel just three years after the September 11 attacks.

Mr Bush's original comments, made on US TV, deflected attention from the united message at the Republican Party convention in New York -- that the President's unwavering self-belief and determination to defeat terrorists will keep the US safe. Asked whether the US could win the war, Mr Bush replied: "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."

After White House officials urgently sought to recast Mr Bush's remarks, which won front-page treatment in key newspapers, the President changed his statement yesterday during a speech to war veterans. "In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table," he said.

"But make no mistake about it, we are winning, and we will win. We will win by staying on the offensive. We will win by spreading liberty."

Later, Mr Bush told conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, "I probably needed to be a little more articulate".

The gaffe prompted Democrat accusations that Mr Bush was a flip-flopper and gave Senator Kerry a rare chance to go on the attack.

Some Republicans at the convention are sporting band-aids with purple hearts drawn on them to suggest that the wounds for which Senator Kerry was decorated were mere scratches. But the Kerry camp came out fighting yesterday, saying, "The President has gone from mission accomplished to mission miscalculated to mission impossible on the war on terror."

Terrorism and national security are the most important voting issue in the election, according to polls that show the race for the White House tied.

It is also Mr Bush's strongest suit over his rival, with a new Washington Post poll showing about 56 per cent of voters now favour him on managing terrorism, compared with 38 per cent for Senator Kerry.

That was a massive change since the Democrat convention at the beginning of August, when Mr Bush headed that contest 48-45.

The damage to Senator Kerry has largely been due to his inability to counter a Vietnam veterans' group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group, after a series of ads that accused Senator Kerry of lying about the circumstances in which he was awarded five medals for bravery and being wounded, shifted ground yesterday to a new round of attacks.

This time the ads target Senator Kerry's conduct when he returned from the war to make claims of US war crimes and atrocities in Vietnam, and also his decision to throw away his medal ribbons.

Commentary:
Flip flop, flip flop. What does Bush believe? It all depends on who's telling him what to say. A commander in chief who says he's the only person who can win this silly war, but then says it's unwinnable, and then repents and says it's winnable again, is unfit for duty