President Bush yesterday told members of the U.S. Military Academy's graduating class that they are fighting a generation-long war against Islamic radicalism and said he has prepared them the same way President Truman prepared for the long Cold War.
The 861 men and women belong to the first class to have entered West Point after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and Mr. Bush told them the fight is "still in the early stages."
"The war began on my watch -- but it's going to end on your watch," he said. "Your generation will bring us victory in the war on terror."
The president repeated the Bush doctrine of military intervention, which he laid out at West Point's graduation ceremony in 2002.