1 Boring Old Man

Also on Iraq, Bush explained, ""The strategy is to help the Iraqi people achieve the objectives and dreams which is a democratic society. That’s the strategy. The tactics — now — either you say yes it’s important we stay there and get it done or we leave. We’re not leaving so long as I’m the president. That would be a huge mistake. It would send an unbelievably, you know terrible, signal to reformers across the region. It would say we’ve abandoned our desire to change the conditions that create terror."

 

Now, look, I — part of the reason we went into Iraq was — the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn’t, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction.

But I also talked about the human suffering in Iraq, and I also talked the need to advance a freedom agenda. And so my question — my answer to your question is, is that imagine a world in which Saddam Hussein was there, stirring up even more trouble in a part of a world that had so much resentment and so much hatred that people came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

You know, I’ve heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine until we arrived and, you know, kind of — the "stir up the hornet’s nest" theory. It just doesn’t hold water as far as I’m concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East. They were —

…

Nothing, except for it’s part of — and nobody’s ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a — Iraq — the lesson of September the 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken.

Nobody’s ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq. I have suggested, however, that resentment and the lack of hope create the breeding grounds for terrorists who are willing to use suiciders to kill to achieve an objective. I have made that case. And one way to defeat that — you know, defeat resentment, is with hope. And the best way to do hope is through a form of government.

Now, I said going into Iraq we got to take these threats seriously before they fully materialized. I saw a threat. I fully believe it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein, and I fully believe the world was better off without him. Now, the question is, how do we succeed in Iraq? And you don’t succeed by leaving before the mission is complete, like some in this political process are suggesting.

Editors and Publishers quoting Bush

I have a very hard time following what this man says [I have a new theory – English is his second language.]. It’s so garbled, the media is quoting him rather than summarizing what he said [probably because it’s not altogether clear]. As best I can tell, he admits that his manifest reasons for going there were wrong [W.M.D.’s, Al Qaeda ties, 911 connections]. He seems to have given up on the Freedom and Democracy kick. Now he’s staying we shouldn’t pull out because it’s a terrorist training ground and the terrorists will have oil money. Somehow, he doesn’t seem to understand that he did it – the reasons he gives for staying are to stop things he caused by going there in the first place – for wrong reasons with impossible goals.

Arrgh! What is he thinking?! Does he think we forgot what he said before?

[see also President on Another Planet?]