At Camp David on March 27, 2003, “When a reporter asked [President] Bush how long the war [in Iraq] might take, the president responded bluntly, ‘However long it takes to win.’ Pressed whether that could mean months, the president grew testier: ‘However long it takes to achieve our objective. And that’s important for you to know, the American people to know, our allies to know and the Iraqi people to know.’ Pressed yet again, Bush said, ‘This isn’t a matter of timetable; it’s a matter of victory. And the Iraqi people have got to know that, see?’ ”
– Todd S. Purdum and The New York Times Staff, A Time of Our Choosing, Page 161