NEVER has a presidential address been so anticipated -- nay, so demanded and virtually dictated -- by so many as the televised speech President Bush delivered on Sunday night.

The words that came from his mouth had been pronounced previously by the leading foreign policy spokesmen in both parties, members of Congress and veterans of past administrations. Their only question was not the content but the timing: Why did it take so long for the commander in chief to come to grips with the realities of Iraq so obvious to everyone else?

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Why did it take so long to pry these words from the president? Because he and the Pentagon civilian chiefs could not be persuaded to abandon the rosy scenario they had anticipated following the ouster of Saddam Hussein and his regime. That script envisaged a grateful populace, liberated from the dictator, welcoming the troops that delivered their freedom, then quickly settling their historic religious and tribal differences, embracing democracy and rapidly rebuilding their nation with the profits from their vast oil supplies.

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Bush was also less than candid in acknowledging the errors of judgment that have contributed to the shaky situation in Iraq. But perhaps it is not too late to begin trying to repair the mistakes and salvage what is vital for the security of the United States and the safety of the world, to say nothing of the future of the miserable people of Iraq.