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3.21.2006
Presidential News Conference
Long time White House reporter Helen Thomas (who has been routinely ignored by W over the years) let him have it this morning in a press conference:
QUESTION: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President -- your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime.
Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, your Cabinet officers, former Cabinet officers, intelligence people and so forth -- but what's your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil, the quest for oil. It hasn't been Israel or anything else. What was it?
But I'll admit, Bush handled himself pretty well in response.
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14 comments:
I love Helen Thomas, she's dope!
Onanite
So what was Bush's response?
On the decision to invade
QUESTION: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President -- your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime.
Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, your Cabinet officers, former Cabinet officers, intelligence people and so forth -- but what's your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil, the quest for oil. It hasn't been Israel or anything else. What was it?
BUSH: I think your premise, in all due respect to your question and to you as a lifelong journalist -- that I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect.
QUESTION: And...
BUSH: Hold on for a second, please. Excuse me. Excuse me.
I didn't really regret it. I kind of semi-regretted it.
-- President BushNo president wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true.
My attitude about the defense of this country changed on September the 11th. When we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people.
Our foreign policy changed on that day. You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy. But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life.
And I'm never going to forget it. And I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people, that we will do everything in our power to protect our people.
Part of that meant to make sure that we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy, and that's why I went into Iraq.
Afghanistan provided safe haven for Al Qaida. That's where they trained, that's where they plotted, that's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.
I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council. That's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed.
And the world said, "Disarm, disclose or face serious consequences." And therefore, we worked with the world. We worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world.
And when he chose to deny the inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did. And the world is safer for it.
That was probably the best impromptu not written down speech bush has delivered to anyone.
It's about time President Bush got away from the scripts and the prompts and just fired away with comments like this. Would have only been better if he would have said, Helen...how do you know we have not stopped another 9-11. You won't because if we stopped it then it doesn't happen; so we never see it. But since it doesn't happen, you assume it never would have, and as the President I simply can't win. Damned if I do, damned if I don't. And everyone but me has the luxury of hindsight. But that's my damn job, so there you have it.
best speech given in quite some time..
It doesn't matter what I or Helen Thomas say, Bush has his own version of history. Basically he can't seem to separate Afghanistan form Iraq. Recall it was bin Laden in Afghanistan who design the 9/11 attack. Bush soon after moved focus to Iraq for his own obscure reasons.
Bush's version is not what happened. I remember. It wasn't a century ago. We got the UN resolution passed (on false pretenses). Saddam called our bluff and allowed the inspectors in. President Bush pressed ahead with the invasion. Saddam didn’t disarm his Chem/Bio/Neuc weapons 'cause he didn't have any. But this didn't deter Bush who wasn't satisfied with Saddam's proclamations so he went to war anyway. BTW - we found none of the stuff Bush used to justify UN Res 1440.
Bush's lies are so blatant that I must constantly check myself so as not to assume that he is simply delusional or has blocked out whole chains of events from the past.
So go ahead and blindly buy into this empty cowboy hat. History will not treat him so lightly. The rest of the country seems to be waking up to these facts but much of Wise Co is apparently a little slow here.
I guess the Iraqi people where a little slow when Saddam was killing masses with nerve gas. You saw the graves on TV and read about them in the papers. He killed thousands and no evidence that those people were anything but innocent. So, do you choose to believe Saddam was just using that on his folks and had no plans to participate or help anyone use that on our soil? Please don't be so naive.
9:39pm
You are a dumb ass!!!!
Bush II is a great man fighting a moral, righteous war against the sworn enemy of the American people -- unlike Clinton who chose to fight cultists in Waco and Christians in Kosovo. Who's the liar? Anonymous 9:39.
I said many in Wise Co (and on this board) are still delusional about this whole Iraq war. Ya'll continue to prove my point.
Yes, Saddam was a very bad man - he killed many of his own people. However, he did not participate in the 9/11 attack. He had chem weapons back in the early 90's (given to him by the US govt. to fight Iran). But apparently he was truthful saying he had none of this stuff any longer. Bush didn't believe him and went to war without the evidence he claimed. Going after the terrorists who attacked us was, in my opinion, justified. Attacking Iraq was not.
Now we’ve created a territory full of native and foreign terrorists who have a much increased hatred of the US. Bush now says that it will be the next president who will have to determine when we withdraw from Iraq. So even he now sees that this mess he created will go on for several more years. I know many of you still believe in Bush and his views, but with more passage of time you may learn this was a misplaced trust.
Bush never stated that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. However he did state facts that Sadam's country was a place terrorist could hide and have support. Along with the other 9 billion things Sadam had done in the past and was probably going to continue to do. Sadam was a threat to the entire world and nobody can deny that. The United States is safer with Sadam out of control and that is great. So lets bash Bush for making this country a safer place to live, work, raise a family, and enjoy all the liberties this country allows us to.
Just what great threat was Saddam to the USA? He invaded Kuwait and was ejected by an international coalition. He attacked Iran and wound up with a no-win stalemate. He was a big loser with a military treat so reduced that he was dangerous only to his own unfortunate people.
There are many more diabolical regimens around the world. Do you advocate we go attack all of them "because they might pose a threat to the US?" (N. Korea, Iran, Somalia, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, etc. etc.)
I get tired just thinking about the prospect.
I think we should blow them all up!!!! I enjoy residing in the USA and getting to do whatever I want to with little worry. You people want to ridicule the govt. process that allows us to chase our dreams. If you don't like what is going on I suggest you get the hell out of the country. I am sure Canada, Mexico, or Africa would love to have you. Sometimes you have to support things you don't agree with 100%.
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