With his approval among Americans at an all-time low of 37 percent and support for his Iraq policy sinking, President Bush has embarked on a bizarre campaign to accuse his critics of rewriting history and aiding the enemy.

It's peculiar because it falls mostly on deaf ears; polls reflecting high voter disapproval also show that 57 percent of Americans doubt the honesty of this president, who pledged to restore integrity to government.

And the detractors Bush attacks now include a solid majority of his fellow citizens.

Only 42 percent still approve of his handling of Iraq and the broader war on terrorism, and 80 percent consider him unduly stubborn.

It's time for Bush to stop fighting a childish war of words with his critics and get control of the war on the ground in Iraq before his aimless policies do even more damage.

The president has little room to accuse anybody of rewriting history because the facts are simple and clear.

He said Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, was feverishly pursuing nuclear capability, had close ties to al-Qaida terrorists who attacked New York and Washington and posed an imminent threat to the safety of Americans.

None of these things was true; intelligence backing the claims proved to be false, outdated and manipulated.

Bush now argues that many of his current critics agreed with his decision to go to war based on the same intelligence he had.

Again, not true.

Members of Congress who supported the war relied on intelligence that was spun and sanitized to justify the administration's agenda.

While the Clinton White House and foreign allies also suspected that Iraq had deadly weapons, they correctly believed diplomatic sanctions were working to disarm Saddam and deserved more time.

In executing this ill-advised war, Bush and his team have displayed little understanding of the regional history, politics and culture they blundered into.

Expecting the Iraqis to put up little resistance and greet us like liberators, Bush sent fewer troops than generals wanted, then prematurely strutted around an aircraft carrier declaring an end to major conflict.

That was 2 1/2 years, 2,000 American lives and $200 billion ago.

Many Iraqis are earnestly striving to build a democracy, but the effort is propped up by the U.S. military, and the country would fall into chaos the minute we left.

It's by no means certain that this war is ultimately winnable no matter how long our forces stay.

Whether we stay or leave, we've irrevocably destabilized the region and created a base for anti-American terrorists that simply didn't exist before we started shooting.

Insurgents continue to attack U.S. troops and friendly Iraqis with seeming impunity, and the conflict is spreading to moderate Arab states such as Jordan.

Hostile countries such as Iran and Syria, knowing that our forces are spread thin, thumb their noses at U.S. threats.

We've lost sight of the real war on terrorism, leaving al-Qaida to continue sponsoring deadly violence around the world.

The Bush administration's bungled response to the New Orleans floods exposed the sorry state of our homeland security apparatus four years after 9/11.

We've committed hideous acts of prisoner abuse in violation of international conventions, subjecting our own troops to the same.

The only real debating point left is whether Bush's persistent miscalculations are a result of ineptitude, dishonesty or a combination of the two.

In seeking answers, we must remember that it isn't about Republicans and Democrats or liberals and conservatives; it's about standards of truthfulness and competence that any leader must be held to.

We should also remember that stubborn refusal to admit mistakes is the surest path to compounding them.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net.