Bush says he would make same decisions (still invade Iraq w/today's facts)

[Robbien]

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday that "knowing what I know today, we still would have gone on into Iraq," signaling that revelations of flaws in the prewar intelligence had not changed his mind about the wisdom of attacking and removing Saddam Hussein from power.

Bush acknowledged that no banned weapons had been found in Iraq, but he said they might still turn up. "We still would have gone to make our country more secure," Bush said, adding that Saddam "had the capability of making weapons."

"He had terrorist ties," Bush said. "The decision I made was the right decision."

. . .

"I don't think the president is helping himself when he says things like this. It's a real stretch to think that a majority of Americans would have been supportive of attacking Iraq in the absence of either a clear connection to Sept. 11 or an imminent WMD threat," said political analyst Charlie Cook, referring to weapons of mass destruction. "Statements like this by the president only lend credence to the charges that he was determined to attack no matter what."

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=41690

[DemBones DemBones]

1. You know, this does not make him sound real bright. nt

[Bhaisahab]

16. like THAT'S a surprise!

him not being bright that is..

hey alice in chains rocks!! :headbang:

[wellst0nev0ter]

2. WOW! So Much STRENGTH Coming From a DETERMINED, RESOLUTE Leader

I'd follow that man anywhere, even over a cliff :eyes:

[soggy]

3. i've always been appalled by those statements

his complete lack of ability to make a mistake will be his downfall. it's hard for him to say this wasn't pre-planned and then say that he'd still sacrifice the lives of 900+ americans and 10,000+ iraqi civilians even though there weren't wmd's or al-qaida connections or even thankfullness from iraqis, who want us out now.

and the obvious follow-up, "why?", is always answered with the boilerplate "he was a bad man".

i can't imagine how parents of fallen soldiers feel when told by their president that he'd send them off to die all over again, just for the principle of the thing. strong leader, indeed...

[saracat]

4. Of course. He dosen't make mistakes.Remember the press conference?

I'll bet he would still put all the cities on alert and bleed thier treasuries again too.

[MidwestTransplant]

5. I am sure he would

of course nobody would have gone along.

[LibDemAlways]

6. "We" would still go into Iraq?

The dipshit only went to Iraq to be photographed with a plastic turkey. What a pitiful excuse for a commander in chief, not to mention human being.

[jmowreader]

33. AND he only went to upstage Hillary!

Hillary Clinton planned to go to Afghanistan to eat with the troops. So what's Bush do? Sneaks into Iraq, flashes the plastic turkey around, jokingly claim he was "looking for a hot meal," then sneak back out of the country without eating a bite.

The person I feel sorriest for in that whole incident is the mess sergeant. Here this poor bastard is trying to make those guys' day a little bit brighter and boom! The fucking Commander in Chief steals all of his thunder--and then won't eat his food?

[notbush]

7. Help me out here, about 10 days...2 weeks ago

there was a story about some news organization contacting senators and asking them how they would vote NOW versus how they voted in 2002.
They only got 40 some senators to reply......but all but 1 or 2 said they would still vote the same way.
I'm old....I don't remember very good......give me some help here.

[Robbien]

8. I remember that, it was a NewsMax story

and it didn't mention how many of those 40 some senators were Republicans. It only mentioned three Democrats.

So this story comes from the far RW rag NewsMax, and was sponsored by a Republican.

[Emillereid]

9. This guy is sick -- the reports of him being mentally ill are right.

He's a classic psychopath. Has he ever shown any evidence of a conscience; has he ever shown any sign of regret or self reflection.

[truthisfreedom]

10. "he had terrorist ties." bush repeats this mantra over and over and over

and he still can't make anyone believe... the facts have come to light and bush is marginalizing himself with this bizarre fixation.

[hippywife]

14. Unfortunately

there are people who believe. I see them all the time. They think that "The President must know something these other people don't. I trust him."

It's really sad. They are usually admittedly non-readers and watch Fox News.

[young_at_heart]

42. I just l heard that "over and over" really works

Just watched a Bill Moyers show with a linguistics professor explaining (and showing Bush clips) of the Republican strategy of saying what they want us to think, over and over and over. The general public gradually accepted things like tax "relief", when in fact, it's not "relief" at all. How many will believe the terrorist ties after hearing about it so much?

[Piperay]

11. He's stupid and arrogant

so of course he would never do anything different, he stays the course even if that course takes him and everyone else right over a cliff. I want a President who is intelligent and self-confident enough to be able to change his mind when he sees that he should choose a different path, not some idiot who is too pigheaded to do anything but keep going the wrong way. :crazy:

[Debs]

12. Of Course He Would

He was going to invade Iraq from day one. The facts never mattered in the least, who here beleives that Bush REALLY invaded Iraq because he thought they had WMDs and please dont let me hear one more time that Bush had to invade Iraq because of the suffering of the poor Iraqis its making my stomach hurt

[Bhaisahab]

17. debs, welcome to DU!

your signature is astounding in its simplicity and profundity....
i like it a lot. :headbang:

[Ferretherder]

24. Exactly! By the way,...

...I have an old friend, down here in West Monroe, La., whose middle name is Debs!

...and welcome to DU!

[shockingelk]

13. He needs to invade a second time then

If it was the right decision to invade Iraq to rid it of WMD, he needs to try again. Maybe the goal of the invasion will be accomplished the next time.

He's not a quitter!

[radfringe]

15. if bush* still has to "sell" the Iraq Invasion to the American people

- 16 months after the fact -- doesn't it give you a clue that maybe it wasn't such a good idea in the first place?

[Disturbed]

18. Maybe

he doesn't have the stones to admit the real reasons that the US invaded Iraq ? Maybe it's too complicated for him to explain the real reasons or he isn't bright enough to explain or even understand them?

Here are the real reasons. Do they jusify the invasion?



Why was Iraq invaded?

Because of three things:

1) Iraq being cleared of WMD by the UNMOVIC/UNSCOM meant Desert Storm (when Saddam went off the reservation) was over and sanctions had to be lifted.

2) Iraq had European contracts for their oil.

3) Iraq was going to trade the oil in Euros not petrodollars.

"Remember, Bush/Saud are the same thing. BDM/Vinnel (Carlyle at the time) arm, train, equip man what keeps Saud in power. Saudi crude funds the whole Bush/Saud crew. Iraq suddenly free again to sell its oil, and in Euros not only screws Bush/Saud, but would cripple the US economy along multiple fracture lines.

First and obviously, having the 2nd largest oil reserve of accessible crude come onto the market will drive the value of Saudi crude into the basement. That Iraq would end run the rest of OPEC to make up for a decade of being starved would scatter the cartel members into the winds to fend for themselves. So what is better, to let Iraq crude take out your own operation at the knees or take it over and roll it into the same portfolio.

Second, because Iraq was gonna devalue your own assets in the first place, doing so outside our traditional partner firms and with European (French, Russian, German) firms visions of Chinnese orders means you are not getting a swing at that crude even in the rest of the chain.

Third, and most critical (and actually more "forgivable" in a strange circumpolar way) is that trading in Euros not petrodollars collapse our capital market funding of our debt and deficits, both Governmental budget and general economic. If China (as its demand for oil goes through the roof in the next 10 years) starts trading with Iraq, and the Euro becomes the currency for oil (not to mention it is already on the edge of surpassing the dollar for capital markets anyway base don value as it is) suddenly China has no need to continue to buy our debt. It would get more of a return in Euros, plus it buys oil form Iraq in Euros."

Christian Parenti

[moondust]

19. Impeach this dimwit and get it over with.

The moron is unfit for any kind of duty.

[ima_sinnic]

20. making same mistake more than once + never admitting mistake

= Bonehead

[skip fox]

21. Another line of attack: W. is so delusional or incapable of admitting his

own mistakes that he continues to insist 1,000 coalition lives, countless innocent Iraqi's, and billions of dollars should have been spent simply for regime change and nation building--something he promised NOT to do in the 2000 campaign.

And HOW IN THE HELL CAN HE CALL KERRY A FLIP-FLOPPER in the face of this??

Or . . . Kerry could contend that it sometimes is wise to keep and open mind, one that might change according to the current understanding of a situation, but W. is too rigid of a thinker. "So, Mr. President," I can almost hear him say in a debate, "if flip-flopping means keeping an open mind, one not rigid and insistent, then call me a flip-flopper."

[teryang]

22. The Furher doesn't make mistakes

Hitler never admitted Stalingrad was a mistake either.

This is just a propaganda technique, how far will beating the terrorist drum and propaganda take him?

Maybe all the way to Stalingrad.

[lebkuchen]

23. If we don't need a reason to invade Iraq,

we don't need a reason to invade anybody else.

Syria and Iran had best be prepared should Bush remain in the WH.

[Maeve]

25. You can lead a man to info, but you can't make him think

"Terrorist ties"--now it's because Saddam had an evil wardrobe??

[Strelnikov_]

26. Dems Need To Jump All Over This <eom>

[cthrumatrix]

27. of coruse...i wasn't the puppet's call...he was given a task

[Mari333]

28. Yeah, asshole, its real easy to make money for your friends

when you are sending other people's children to your fake wars.
Go to Hell, Bush.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[cornfedyank]

29. repeat it loud...let the sheeple awaken

"knowing what i know today, we still would have gone into iraq."

screw the tangent war. focus on the imminent threat.

[sidpleasant]

30. Bush: "[Saddam] had the capability of making weapons"

Of course none of the reporters asked the obvious question: "If Iraq had the capability to make weapons, why haven't we found a single operational WMD factory after over a year of searching?"

[Ilsa]

31. I believe David Kay said last month that the MisAdministration

needs to "get over it" on the WMD issue, they weren't there, they aren't there, they weren't anywhere near to being there, so move on.

The strange thing is, I suspect that if * apologized for being wrong on Iraq, he'd probably be forgiven by most of the country (sheeple). But he insists upon never being wrong, and I think that will be his downfall.

[Mighty Undecided]

32. "F* Saddam, he's going down" - October 2002, Time

It's not as if any information had anything to do with his decision.
Still, he is bragging about it and why not? it's not like he is challenged much on it.

[lottie244]

34. So did Bush have "terrorist ties." More reason to get rid of this liar.

He is pathetic. Incoherent, lying SOB!

[skip fox]

35. What constitutes a terrorist "tie"? USA historically has maintained

"ties" (if by ties we mean lines of communication) with countries we were at war with at the time--back channel ties with Japan, Germany, etc.

We have "ties" currently with North Korea, Lybia, Syria, etc.

There is a spectrum here:

Contacts/Communication-----Friendly and Moderately Useful Relations-----Aid/Collaboration/Planning/Support


Just WHAT does W. mean? Pin him down, reporters, don't let him get away with this lazy thinking or obscuring language.

And while we're on the subject, just what kind of support did Saddam give Palestinians? He gave the famlies of suicide bombers $30,000. Is this "supporting terrorism"? The families have just lost a child AND their homes (due to Isreal's draconian measures). In this (accurate) light, Saddam's $30,000 DOES NOT ENCOURAGE more suicide bombers (and that's what "supports terrorism" implies), it simply alleviates a portion of the families' suffering.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro Saddam or Hamas. I'm simply looking directly at the situation and the administration's language.

[indie_voter]

36. Knowing what we know now, would he be selected? :P n/t

[arwalden]

37. Well... At Least He's Not A Flip-Flopper, Eh?

[mad_hatter]

38. Wow! What a rock.....

Unmoving, unflinching, and firmly planted in his stance. He's a rock alright. Mindless and inhuman. What an arrogant fool. He's losing his hold here in Texas. Hard core supporters are beginning to take notice.

[54anickel]

39. Sounds like good grounds for impeachment. n/t

[young_at_heart]

40. So, he gets to decide our "aggression policy"?

If he believes it's the right thing to do, then we Americans just have to accept his perfect wisdom, I guess.

[V Lee]

41. It was revenge, Saddam tried to kill GW's dad

I've been saying it all along, I'm convinced GW Bush was determined to take out Saddam because he tried to kill his dad (Bush senior). Bush initially made the "he tried to kill my dad" statement at least six times (The Daily Show showed clips) in speeches before the war, but as the war rhetoric ramped up he stopped saying it so the "personal revenge" aspect wouldn't be too obvious. A lot of people find it hard to believe, but look at how petty and vindictive GW is.

I believe personal revenge, plus the desire to control Iraqi oil, were the two main reasons Bush overthrew Saddam. Plus he's tried to be like daddy his whole life, starting oil companies, becoming president, going to war with Iraq, etc.

[DelawareValleyDem]

43. No surprise there

He's the same moron he was back then.

[davidwhite0570]

44. I agree with V Lee

I knew from the get go this was all about daddy's hurt pride....Bush jr didn't raise a real international force because he believed they held daddy back from finishing the task in Desert Storm....I was Rhere and a lot of higher ups were angry because the UN stopped us from going into Baghdad...

[TrueStory]

45. 1984: offense = defense

"The best way to protect the American homeland is to stay on the offense," Bush said. "It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offense, more people want to hurt us. We're on the offense because people do want to hurt us."

[maveric]

46. Of course he would. He wanted the OIL!

Regardless of the facts and reasons he and his cabal had plans to invade Iraq and steal their oil from day one.
What a fucking asshole!

[Bullshot]

47. Did you really think he would admit making a mistake now?

Hey George! Using your criteria for attacking Iraq, why aren't we in there taking out your buddies in the Saudi royal family? They and their government is more responsible for the terrorism against Americans than Saddam ever was. They're government is every bit as repressive as Saddam's, especially with women.

I know, they saved your skinny little ass whenever you messed up another business venture. It's pretty tough to get angry at people who save your financial ass all the time. Never mind they're at least partially responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, including the victims of 9/11. That's irrelevant in your family's little world.

[MallRat]

48. Has anyone bothered to ask him, "WHY would you still go into Iraq?"

n/t

[TankLV]

49. Yeah, and he would have had only the rabid repukes support.

He would have been alone, would not have gained the "blessings" of the congress, and all would have soundly condemned him for it if he decided to do it anyway.

He would not have had the majority vote in congress to do it, that's for sure

[rambler_american]

50. You gotta feel sorry for Smirk

He's caught between Iraq and a hard head. :shrug:

[0007]

51. Kick

:kick: