Now George Bush says this is a “battle for civilization.” No it isn’t. And that’s exactly why he’s bad for America.

Like all second-term Presidents, Bush yearns for a place in history. So his rhetoric grows ever-more overblown:

• The struggle against radical Islam is “the calling of our civilization.”

• “The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.”

• “We are now in the early hours of this struggle between tyranny and freedom.” (Note: the War in Iraq has now lasted longer than our part in World War II.)

More and more, the American people suspect that all Bush’s rhetoric is just not true.

More and more, 9/11 looks like a combination of:

• A zealous but tiny group of fanatics who bluster about hitting us again but seem unable to pull together even the beginnings of another serious plot;

• A government in Washington (yes, Bill Clinton too) that was almost willfully unaware of the threat;

• A dysfunctional air-security system.

But Bush wasn’t satisfied to hit back and cripple the attackers. For reasons political and probably personal, he had to turn this into World War III and himself into Franklin D. Churchill.

Unfortunately, he’s dragging the rest of us along with him.

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