KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- President George W. Bush said history will show that the Iraq war was worth it.

He used a speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Kansas City Wednesday to urge patience.

Excerpts released in advance have him telling the veterans that people need to take a long view. He is expected to compare the war to past U.S. involvements in Asia, including Korea, World War II and even Vietnam. He said the American pullout from Vietnam led to "agonies" for "millions of innocent citizens."

And Bush lumps Iraq in with Afghanistan, saying, "The ideals and interests that led America to help the Japanese turn defeat into democracy are the same that lead us to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been quick to dispute Bush's position. He said the president is ignoring a "fundamental difference" with past conflicts. He said the U.S. invaded Iraq "under false pretenses," leading to what the Democrat said was "one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our history."

Bush used the speech to offer support to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"Prime Minister Maliki's a good guy, good man with a difficult job and I support him," Bush said.

"And it's not up to the politicians in Washington, D.C., to say whether he will remain in his position," Bush said. "It is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy and not a dictatorship."