WASHINGTON, Sept 6: There's a growing concern in the United States that President George Bush was right when he said last week the "war against terror" was not winnable.

"I don't think you can win it," Mr Bush told NBC television last week. He later corrected himself and said he thinks the war can be won.

But there seems to be growing consensus in the United States that Mr Bush was right when he first said that the war on terror was not winnable. "This is becoming like a war on crime, which cannot be won or abandoned," said former New York governor Mario Cumo in a recent television talk show while commenting on Mr Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Prominent newspapers - from Washington Post to New York Times and television stations have pointed out that while Mr. Bush should not have made those remarks while seeking a reelection, he was right when he explained the best the United States can do is to make the terrorists ineffective.

Media commentators also refer to Mr. Bush's other comments, made in the same interview, indicating that the war on terror is going to be more a war of ideas than of weapons. "I think you can create conditions, so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world," said Mr. Bush.

Later, White House spokesman Scott McClellan, while explaining Mr. Bush's remarks, made a comment that also reflects the realization in Washington that this war cannot be won in the battlefield.

"I don't think you can expect that there will ever be a formal surrender or a treaty signed, like we have in wars past," said McClellan. "It requires a generational commitment to win this war on terrorism."

But later President Bush acknowledged that winning this war of ideas would also be as difficult as winning it in the battlefield, if not more. "The most difficult question, which apparently has no answer, is who do you talk to end this conflict peacefully? In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table," said Mr Bush.

His challenger John Kerry jumped on this opportunity to criticize Mr Bush, declaring: "I absolutely disagree" with the president. "With the right policies, this is a war we can win, this is a war we must win and this is a war we will win."