From The Washington Post:

President Bush today warned Americans to “be prepared for more violence” in Iraq as insurgents seek to disrupt an upcoming referendum on a new constitution, and he declared that there is “no middle ground” in the U.S. war on terrorism.

Speaking to reporters after receiving a briefing at the Pentagon on the U.S. war effort, Bush also ruled out any concession to the demands of U.S. peace groups for a pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. With the violence in Iraq escalating and the U.S. death toll there now over 1,900, peace groups are planning what organizers say will be a massive march and rally in Washington Saturday to demand an immediate withdrawal.

“Some Americans want us to withdraw our troops so that we can escape the violence,” said Bush, who was flanked by Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials. “I recognize their good intentions, but their position is wrong. Withdrawing our troops would make the world more dangerous and make America less safe. To leave Iraq now would be to repeat the costly mistakes of the past that led to the attacks of September the 11th, 2001.”

Bush said terrorists “saw our response” to the hostage crisis in Iran under the Carter administration, the bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon during the Reagan administration and a series of attacks during the Clinton presidency and “concluded that we lacked the courage and character to defend ourselves.

“Now the terrorists are testing our will and resolve in Iraq,” Bush said. “If we fail that test, the consequences for the safety and security of the American people would be enormous. Our withdrawal from Iraq would allow the terrorists to claim an historic victory over the United States.” It would also embolden enemies such as Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi to launch more attacks, he said.

“The battle lines are drawn, and there is no middle ground,” Bush said. “Either we defeat the terrorists and help the Iraqis build a working democracy, or the terrorists will impose their dark ideology on the Iraqi people and make that country a source of terror and instability to come for decades.”

Bush said, “The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon the mission. For the security of the American people, that’s not going to happen on my watch.”

As many of you know, I haven’t exactly hidden my opposition to President Bush. Yet I support him on this matter more determinedly than perhaps on anything else he’s done as president.

I supported the war in Iraq before the bumbling and fumbling and general incompetence during the aftermath and occupation turned me, like so many other liberal hawks, into a critic. But now is not the time to pull out of Iraq. As I’ve put it elsewhere:

I believed that war was necessary, given what I knew at the time. And now? Well, the war/occupation has gone horribly wrong, and we’re left with something resembling a quagmire — a difficult situation from which it will be difficult to pull out. But it’s imperative to deal with the facts as they are. And the central fact is that the U.S. invaded Iraq, toppled Saddam’s regime, and is now occupying the country even as a new, democratic regime struggles to secure legitimacy and long-term viability amid a bloody insurgent backlash.

The loss of life has indeed been a truly horrendous cost, and I’m in no position to claim that I know what it’s like to lose a loved one to this war, but the job needs to be finished — that is, Iraq needs to be stabilized — before any significant withdrawal can be considered. Lest Iraq (and perhaps much of the Middle East) descend into chaos and America’s broad national security be even further threatened. And all that, I’m afraid, would turn out to be a lot worse than the gross injustices of this war.

This doesn’t happen often, but I must congratulate President Bush for standing firm. I hope he sticks to this position and doesn’t cave in leading up to the 2006 midterms.