President Bush Answers Some Questions
May 14th, 2008 at 12:43am Mark Noonan
A question submitted from the online audience asked Bush whether he felt he had been misled about Iraq as he made the decision to go to war.
“‘Misled’ is a strong word,” he said. “Not only our intelligence community, but intelligence communities all across the world shared the same assessment. And so I was disappointed to see how flawed our intelligence was.”
“Do I think somebody lied to me? No, I don’t. I think it was just, you know, they analyzed the situation and came up with the wrong conclusion,” he added.
He acknowledged concerns about leaving the unfinished Iraq war to a Democratic successor. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have said they will bring troops home if elected.
Bush said his “doomsday scenario of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States.”
Also in the interview to an online audience, Bush:
- Said more is known about global warming than when he first took office in 2001. Asked if it was real, Bush said, “Yes, it is real, sure is.” Still, he defended his opposition to the Kyoto treaty on climate change. “I could have supported a lousy treaty and everybody would have went, `Oh, man, what a wonderful-sounding fellow he is. But it just wouldn’t have worked.”
- Criticized the Democratic-led Congress, claiming it had dragged its feet on trade, on renewing surveillance powers and failing to respond appropriately to the housing crisis. “And so I would call them stalled. I would call them, so far, good at verbiage and not so good at results.”
- Said his Christian faith increased while in office, saying he sought to understand his weaknesses, better himself “and get closer to the Lord.”
- Criticized former President Carter for advocating what he called a “blame-Israel-for-every-problem” mentality to the Middle East.
President Bush also expressed sympathy for both Obama and Hillary over their gruelling primary fight, and opined that race will only be a factor in the fall if the MSM makes it so - something I agree with; especially if Obama is slipping in the polls by October, the MSM will try to guilt trip America into voting Obama by claiming in polls and surveys that anti-Obama sentiment is actually anti-black sentiment.
I’m telling ya, good people, we’re going to miss this man once he leaves office - he has been the most honest, most dedicated and most kind-to-his-opponents man we’ve ever had in office. I know those who hate him will disagree with this, but that is just one of the sadder aspects of the past 8 years that as we’ve been confronted with challenge and President Bush has risen to it, some people made it their business to turn Bush into the enemy.
Entry Filed under: President Bush
13 Comments
1. Nate | May 14th, 2008 at 12:57 am
wow, now bush says global warming is “real” and he’s certainly being a leader on how to respond to it…hooray
2. D. Bruggers | May 14th, 2008 at 2:05 am
I agree with your assessment of Bush. He does an awful lot of good humanitarian work around the world that’s never recognized or applauded except in very limited circles, and I’ve often wished that he’d had a decent publicist!! But I think that history will vindicate him, if it’s not taken over by the left and becomes totally revisionist.
In the end, we live our lives before God, and He is the only judge that matters. Nobody’s perfect, but in my opinion Bush has, more than any president in my lifetime, most consistently tried to do what he felt was right and stick to his principles (And of course called stubborn instead of courageous), and he openly acknowledges his dependence on and gratefulness to God. God bless George Bush, and more power to him for surviving a relentless shower of bile.
3. Global Warming » Pr&hellip | May 14th, 2008 at 2:48 am
[…] Daily Kos: State of the Nation wrote an interesting post today on President Bush Answers Some QuestionsHere’s a quick excerpt- Said more is known about global warming than when he first took office in 2001. Asked if it was real, Bush said, “Yes, it is real, sure is… […]
4. Bigfoot | May 14th, 2008 at 9:42 am
But I think that history will vindicate him, if it’s not taken over by the left and becomes totally revisionist.
I, too, would like to think that history will be kinder to George W. Bush than most of his contemporary critics, but that hope is tempered by the fact that many historians are left-leaning.
In some ways, history is already revisionist, by overlooking many of the statements by Democrats, including statements made before Bush took office, that Saddam had stockpiles of WMD or was trying to develop them.
For example:
President Clinton, address to joint chiefs of staff, 17 Feb 1998:
“In the next century, the community of nations may see more and more the very kind of threat Iraq poses now — a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction ready to use them or provide them to terrorists, drug traffickers or organized criminals who travel the world among us unnoticed.”
President Clinton, State of the Union address, 27 Jan 1998:
“Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade and much of his nation’s wealth not on providing for the Iraqi people but on developing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them.”
Former President Clinton, on Larry King Live, 22 July 2003:
“People can quarrel with whether we should have more troops in Afghanistan or internationalize Iraq or whatever, but it is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks of biological and chemical weapons.”
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, at a town hall meeting at Ohio State University on 18 Feb 1998:
“No one has done what Saddam Hussein has done, or is thinking of doing. He is producing weapons of mass destruction, and he is qualitatively and quantitatively different from other dictators.”
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, statement on 16 Dec 1998, in support of airstrikes against Iraq:
“As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.”
Senator Edward Kennedy, speech at Johns Hopkins, 27 Sept 2002:
“As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.”
(”many years” would be a longer than the 21 months that Bush had been in office at the time of the speech. Thus, the speech was given when Bush was president, but refers to our earlier beliefs on Saddam’s WMD.)
Congressman Henry Waxman, address to the Congress, 10 October 2002:
“He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do.”
(”11 years” is longer than the 22 months that Bush had been in office at the time of this speech. Again, the speech must refer to our beliefs about Saddam’s WMD before Bush took office.)
And last, but not least, one of the current candidates, Senator Hillary Clinton, addressing the Senate on 10 Oct 2002:
“In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program.”
(She must be including pre-Bush intelligence reports, since “four years” goes back to 1998, before Bush took office.)
(emphasis in all the above added)
President Bush is correct to say that “misled” is a strong word. But that’s exactly his critics have been doing. This is why, even though I have posted this link and quotes before, I post them again. They will bear repeating as long as leftwing critics continue to lie by accusing Bush of lying. Instead, Bush’s accusation of Saddam having WMD was merely a repeat of the official position of the Clinton administration.
5. Bigfoot | May 14th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Ooops, I pasted the wrong part of linked article concerning Kennedy. His speech at Johns Hopkins on 27 Sept 2002 included:
“We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.”
6. OhioOrrin | May 14th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
the 2 part Frontline documentary called “Bush’s War” was damning vs cheney, Rummy, Wolf, et al neocons that the Nuke intel was flimsey.
W himself expressed reservations but went public anyway.
no wonder colin powell resigned and therein removed the first true black presidental candidate!
to thine own self be true!
7. majoriot | May 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
“…he has been the most honest, most dedicated and most kind-to-his-opponents man we’ve ever had in office.”
Truly a spit take moment, if ever there was one.
Then again, ignorance has it’s rewards.
8. Jim | May 14th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Bush will be vindicated by history for seeing the future’s threats and its opportunities long before his detractors did. Democrats, socialists, and liberals will try to ruin our country as they suffer from moral confusion. Brazenly, the left befriends our enemies and antagonizes their fellow Americans and show utter disrespect and anti-patriotic tendencies toward their country and the President.
I wouldn’t mind having a black or female President, but I’ll be d@mned if either Obama or Clinton hold a candle to Bush or McCain.
9. dreamweaver | May 14th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
He was never of Presidential timber. He was corporate America’s candidate. Someone they could share the spoils with and manipulate with ease. In some cases the damage they have caused to our nation’s status and economy will take years to repair.
Those who voted for him not once but twice should think twice before filling out a ballot in 08.
Texas will not be richer when the carpetbagger returns home.
10. Neologizer | May 14th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Dear Mark
After denying the obvious (and that real scientists have been saying for a decade now) that global warming is real. Are you finally going to own up and admit like Bush did that you’ve been wrong about?????
11. Gaijin | May 15th, 2008 at 1:17 am
“I’m telling ya, good people, we’re going to miss this man once he leaves office - he has been the most honest, most dedicated and most kind-to-his-opponents man we’ve ever had in office.”
Thanks Mark, I really need a good laugh to make it through work.
Most honest, he has used more signing statements and Executive Prev. more than any President in history.
Most dedicated? Most kind, just ask everyone that has been attacked by Karl Rove. Max Cleland, who is a disabled Vietnam vet in a wheel chair was compared to in Laden and Saddam in a TV commercial. Yeah, kindest ever!
Seriously Mark, do you truly believe Bush is the “most honest, most dedicated, more kind” person to ever be President? Really? For someone who claims to know a lot about history, you sure are betting on the wrong horse.
Bush will not be remembered well. In 30 years time, history will have shuffled him in the bottom five along with Grant, Pierce and Nixon.
Best ever, man you crack me up!
Peace, Gaijin
12. Jim | May 15th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Everyone knows that taxes create unretrievable losses in economies. Bush lowered taxes in 2001 and 2003 which has unfettered all Americans and lifted all boats. The average family of four gets to keep an additional $1,600 of their own money. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/taxplan.html) Democrats will retract these benefits and raise taxes increasing the losses to society that cannot be made back.
And somewhere Al Quaeda and Bin Laden are sitting in a cave confounded by the resolve of an American President with patriotic and beneficent principles that can’t be found in the Democrat party. Like I said before, Republicans ought to show the tape of Bin Laden asking the Democrats why they can’t stop the war, over and over, ad nauseum.
This is why I voted for Bush twice, and why I’d vote for him again if I could. So, I’ll choose the next best thing: McCain. And a true American would never discourage fellow citizens from voting.
13. Cavalor Epthith, Esquire, D.S.V.J. | May 15th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
12. Jim | May 15th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I grasp the tax cutting, but what i do not understand is if this worked so well why is the US economy in decline? Why has Bush balked on a stronger currency policy which would reverse the trend somewhat in the energy commodities sector?
The sixteen hundred dollars that Bush touted as “Sixteen hundred dollars will pay the gasoline cost for two cars for a year” in 2001 does not go as far today. At the current cost of petrol which acts as a tax on consumers and avg petrol tank being 16.5 US gallons and a mileage avg of 17 per gallon with the current avg cost of $3,77 per gallon that two year daily commute and errands is down to 48 weeks for only one of those two automobiles. For both to be fully gassed for one year the cost is $3 467.