Catastrophic success

"Bush also acknowledged in the interview that the administration did not anticipate the nature of the resistance in Iraq, and he said that was his greatest mistake in office. 'Had we had to do it over again,' he said, 'we would look at the consequences of catastrophic success, being so successful so fast that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day.'

Democrats tried Sunday to exploit that acknowledgment. 'The president is now describing his Iraq policy as a catastrophic success,' Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards said in Washington. 'I, like most Americans, have no idea what that means, but it is long past time for this president to accept personal responsibility for his failures and for his performance.' Edwards said the Iraq war 'has clearly been a failure.'"