HONOLULU ? President Bush circled the globe on his Asian journey but never strayed far from the subject of Iraq. He dined with U.S. troops in Hawaii before heading home Tuesday, telling them their efforts “will determine how your children and grandchildren live.”

Bush returned to Washington late Tuesday night after visiting Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia during an eight-day trip aimed at assuring Asia of America’s commitment to the region.

Still, Iraq and the war on terror kept the president’s attention. In Vietnam, asked about lessons from that war, Bush answered that in Iraq, “we’ll succeed unless we quit.”

And he found himself in front of cameras Tuesday at Hickam Air Force Base condemning the assassination earlier in the day of an anti-Syrian Lebanese leader.

Bush was briefed in Hawaii at the Oahu headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Command, whose territory spreads from the West Coast of the U.S. to the Indian Ocean.