Bush was good today

[Caldric]

Whatever your politics it would be hard to deny that Bush was very good today in his press meeting.

"We're not leaving so long as I am President."

I can respect that he is the leader.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...20060821.html#

[centra]

At least he has a backbone which is more than I can say about alot of the politicians nowadays. I was taught to finish what I start.

[BrianK]

I've noticed that Rumsfield has been critisized and yet within the presidents speeches he continually refers to the commanders in the field making the decisions. That point has gone unchallenged which leads me to believe that this war isn't being micro-managed by politicians.

The portion of the war that involves detection & stopping the flow of funding has been subject to political maneuvering.

Today the president reaffirmed his position and committment. I believe he makes his firm stance based on the ability of our military excellence & doesn't bow to what the polls show on any given day.

[odannyboy]

Originally Posted by BrianK

I've noticed that Rumsfield has been critisized and yet within the presidents speeches he continually refers to the commanders in the field making the decisions. That point has gone unchallenged which leads me to believe that this war isn't being micro-managed by politicians.

If you believed that then you'd be wrong. The war has been micro-managed on a scale that most would find hard to believe. You are not going to find this out from the MSM. They simply do not have the force of will to press on in their brief time available, and even if they had the time or the will to ask these in depth questions they would not get honest answers.

There are many books available on the subject of the planning and execution of the invasion of Iraq and Rumsfeld's role in it. Dont expect to hear anything about the continual mistakes from our toothless and easily distracted MSM.

You wont get answers there.

Back OT:

I heard excerpts of this press conference today. He completely stopped making sense towards the end of the interview. If you think any of this makes sense perhaps you can explain it to me.

Whats a "suicider"? Whats this "Freedom Agenda"? (Sounds like the "Patriot Act") His attempts to still talk about WMD and link them to Zarqawi (politics of fear) is pretty pathetic. Sorry, dont justify the invasion ONE BIT.

And while he makes a deflection that no one suggested Saddam ordered the 9/11 attack this administration CONTINUALLY made the case that 9/11, Al Qaeda and Saddam were all connected. And his "resentment and lack of hope" comment squares perfectly with why we are in a guerrilla war in Iraq.

It's called the politics of fear, and I wonder when some of you are going to wake up.

THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. On the other hand, Ken, I don't think you've ever heard me say -- and you've now been covering me for quite a while, 12 years -- I don't think I've -- 12 years? Yes. I don't think you've ever heard me say, gosh, I'd better change positions because the polls say this or that. I've been here long enough to understand you cannot make good decisions if you're trying to chase a poll. And so the second part of your question is, look, I'm going to do what I think is right, and if people don't like me for it, that's just the way it is.


Q Quick follow-up. A lot of the consequences you mentioned for pulling out seem like maybe they never would have been there if we hadn't gone in. How do you square all of that?


THE PRESIDENT: I square it because, imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein who had the capacity to make a weapon of mass destruction, who was paying suiciders to kill innocent life, who would -- who had relations with Zarqawi. Imagine what the world would be like with him in power. The idea is to try to help change the Middle East.
Now, look, 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 the 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 everything was just fine until we arrived, and kind of "we're going to 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.


Q What did Iraq have to do with that?


THE PRESIDENT: What did Iraq have to do with what?


Q The attack on the World Trade Center?


THE PRESIDENT: Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- the lesson of September the 11th is, take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody has 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 -- defeat resentment is with hope. And the best way to do hope is through a form of government. Now, I said going into Iraq that we've got to take these threats seriously before they fully materialize. I saw a threat. I fully believe it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein, and I fully believe the world is 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.

[Snowden]

Only one comment here from me. Saddam paid $25,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel.

[odannyboy]

Originally Posted by Snowden

Only one comment here from me. Saddam paid $25,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel.

A last ditch measure to win arab support before we invaded his country.

If this type of behavior upsets you then take a closer look at the Saudi's, you know, the ones who actually DID spawn terrorists that attacked us.

[KBay84]

Originally Posted by odannyboy

A last ditch measure to win arab support before we invaded his country.

If this type of behavior upsets you then take a closer look at the Saudi's, you know, the ones who actually DID spawn terrorists that attacked us.

Gee....The Weathermen, Green Peace, PeTa, the ELF and ALF all come from America, does that make US bad???

Get a grip, Danno.