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Bush: "Iraqi people owe the Americans..."
Basar
IstanbulRegistered User regular
IstanbulRegistered User regular
Bush: "Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude"
Basically, the keypoint is, Dubya thinks!
Wow, this guy is on a total power trip: "They cannot stop me."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/14/bush.60.minutes/index.html
:roll:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congress cannot reverse last week's decision to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq, President Bush said in an interview intended to rally popular support for his plan.
"Frankly, that's not their responsibility," Bush said in an interview on the CBS News program "60 Minutes," which aired Sunday.
"It's my responsibility to put forward the plan that I think will succeed. I believe if they start trying to cut off funds, they better explain to the American people and the soldiers why their plan will succeed," the president said.
Some Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, have called on Congress to block Bush from committing more troops to Iraq, either by limiting the number of troops that can be committed or by cutting off funds for further deployments. (Watch congressional reaction to plan )
Asked if he believes that he, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has the authority to order troops to Iraq in the face of congressional opposition, Bush said, "In this situation, I do, yeah."
"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it," he said. "But I made my decision, and we're going forward."
He said Iraqis should be thankful for all the United States has done for them since the invasion nearly four years ago.
"I think I am proud of the efforts we did," Bush said.
"We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude. That's the problem here in America: They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq."
As he did in his Wednesday speech, when he announced the deployment of more troops to the nearly 4-year-old war, Bush acknowledged his administration made mistakes in Iraq.
Bush allowed that low troop levels "could have been a mistake," that led to a widespread breakdown in law and order after the March 2003 invasion. The president also cited other mistakes, including the abuse of inmates at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison -- where pictures of U.S. troops mistreating prisoners led to international condemnation -- and his use of "bad language" like his July 2003 challenge to the then-budding insurgency: "Bring 'em on."
"I think history is going to look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better. No question about it," he said. But despite the mistakes, he said he did not feel he owes the Iraqi people an apology.
"Not at all," he told CBS.
With his popularity ratings in the gutter and support for the war flagging, Bush said he recognizes that the war "hadn't gone as well as I had hoped at this point in time." But he said the dismal reviews do not affect his outlook.
"Quite the contrary. My spirits are strong, and I'm-- I'm-- I'm-- I'm blessed to be the president," he said.
"I really am not the kind of guy that sits here and says, 'Oh, gosh, I'm worried about my legacy.' I'm more worried about making the right decisions to protect the United States of America. See, we're in a war. People want to come and attack you and attack our country. I understand criticism. But I've got a pretty thick hide."
The president bridled at the suggestion that he has been less than forthcoming with the American people about such matters as the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the lack of any connection between the September 11, 2001 attacks and Iraq, and predictions that the war would cost about $50 billion -- far short of the current $400 billion price tag.
"I strongly reject that this administration hasn't been straight with the American people," he said. "The minute we found out they didn't have weapons of mass destruction, I was the first to say so."
And he rejected a growing chorus of calls for U.S. forces to leave the country to the Iraqis to sort out for themselves -- a view held by some Americans.
"I would hope they'd want us to succeed before we get out," he said. "If the government falls apart, it'll invite Iran into the Shiite neighborhoods, Sunnis, Sunni extremists into the Sunni neighborhoods, Kurdish separatist movements."
He also rejected the suggestion that the U.S. invasion created more instability in Iraq than it eliminated.
"Well, our administration took care of a source of instability in Iraq," he said. "Envision a world in which Saddam Hussein was rushing for a nuclear weapon to compete against Iran."
Both U.S. and UN officials have said since the invasion that Saddam Hussein's nuclear program was dismantled after the 1991 Gulf War.
A CIA-led survey of Iraq's weapons programs concluded in 2004 that then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had halted work toward a nuclear bomb in 1991, under U.N. sanctions that ended the Persian Gulf War.
Bush said he was discouraged by video of Saddam Hussein's hanging showing the Sunni being taunted by Shiite guards moments before the execution. "They could have handled it a lot better," he said.
Bush, who has said he does not use e-mail, said he watched the video on the Internet, but turned away before the ousted dictator fell through the trap door of the gallows.
Basically, the keypoint is, Dubya thinks!
Wow, this guy is on a total power trip: "They cannot stop me."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/14/bush.60.minutes/index.html
:roll:
i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language
Basar on
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Posts
Am I supposed to be relating this to the invasion of Iraq or something, because I ain't seeing it
I am seeing unicorns, though
Unfortunately, the "things they could have done better" weren't just visible in hindsight - plenty of people saw what was coming from a long way off.
Here is something I wrote on May 25th in 2003:
Unfortunately it seems that I was more right than wrong.
Not that I am supporting the Iraqis, but goddam history will not be kind to the Americans in this war. Not at all.
Such self-esteem.
Anyway, are we supposed to discuss anything here, or should we just wait for a pro-Bush-guy to stop by so we can all mock him?
Fixed, with any luck.
Yeah.
You're right. My mistake.
I know a lot of American people, and they are all good folk, but the government is a sack of shit, corrupt and blinded by its own greed.
Seriously, one day they will go too far and it will all go to hell Children of Men stylee.
WHAT.
The American people aren't mad at me! They're mad at those ungrateful fuckers in Iraq! If only the EYE-RACK-EYS understood how to say thankyou for what we'd gone done! Why aren't they more proud of the efforts we did(?!)
Fucking hell, the most powerful man in the world is an illiterate fool sending people to their deaths for nothing. Why has there been no uprising?! WHY!
... Rant: Off. A thousand sighs. I don't know if I have enough compassion to go around to all the soldiers and people who are yet to die because of this tomfoolery. Can I donate money somewhere?
Well, the American public did vote this guy into office, and even re-elected him.
It's different under a dictatorship, but to my mind in a democracy the voters do share in some of the responsibility for the actions of their leaders. Otherwise, what's the point?
To quote Terry Pratchett, no practical definition of freedom is complete without the freedom to take the consequences.
Sorry, I should've been clearer.
World stunned by shocking revelation!
Hey, its not like Jenna and Barbara aren't doing they're part. They're international ambassadors for the United States of PARTY DOWN.
In other news, Prince Harry threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't sent to Iraq with his men. Who says noblisse oblidge is dead?
You're correct. Too many stupid people in this country, but pastures aren't greener for me anywhere else.
Also silicon, that is kind of badass. There could be some seriously cool paintings of Prince Henry as a result.
Democracy requires a social contract, and this cannot be imposed.
Admitting fault OUGHT to at SOME POINT be a better political move then just argue that you have not. But maybe not.
Fuck it
- "Proving once again the deadliest animal of all ... is the Zoo Keeper" - Philip J Fry
I've often seen the notion that Bush's daughters should either speak out against the policies of their father or join the military or otherwise do something just because they are the daughters of the President. But truth to be told, I never saw a good argument for this. Why should the relatives of a politician be obligated to do anything related to politics. After all, they weren't elected - he was.
For a counterexample, you only need to take a look at Joachim Sauer, the husband of Angela Merkel. He wasn't with her during election night, he doesn't accompany her to photo ops, and in fact he refuses any requests for interviews that don't have to do with scientific topics (he is a Professor of Chemistry). He keeps his private life private. Now that is an attitude I can respect.
Isn't one of the points of having a democracy that you don't have to deal with the soap operatic lives of aristocrats?
If 6 out of 10 Iraqis believe Americans are enemy occupiers that should be killed, then complaining about them not being thankful is like complaining that Osama bin Laden uses offensive generalizations in his fatwas.
jesus, that would be a crisis.
i think it would be awesome if a Cheney Prime to came in and, maddened by our inability to use the military effectively, started blasting everyone in washington with birdshot, only to be later imprisoned for eternity in guantanamo surrounded by 40 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
To say they owe us a damn thing is the most asinine thing I've heard so far this year. And GRATITUDE? Shut. The fuck. Up.
Weird.
SoogaGames Blog
I wonder what the voter turnout will be in the future? It keeps rising, doesn't it?
Truthfully, I think that it's more of a sign of how divided our partisan politics have gotten our country and less about income. I think alot of people voted for Bush because they were afraid of how liberal Kerry had been painted. They weren't happy with Bush's war policies, but they certainly didn't want someone in office that was going to push things too far away from where they saw the moral center of the US. It's sad but the 2 party structure has reached an apex that really seems to be destroying everyone's trust in the government on both sides of the fence.
It's likely an overstatement, but the feeling I got in the last election was that many that voted Kerry were voting against Bush, not for Kerry. Also, many that voted to keep Bush really seemed to have this picture that if Mr. Liberal got elected than people would be having abortions to the 300th trimester and forcing us all into gay marriages.
It's going to sound like censorship, but I think the only real solution is much stricter policies on political campaigns and 3rd party political ads to get the country back on track. I think if the elections stayed more focused and messages were given our more clearly that Bush wouldn't have been re-elected - quite frankly I doubt Bush or Kerry would have ever even have been their party's candidates.
Man, I can't believe RatM missed the entire Bush administration, when we needed them the most.
Final score:
Machine:1 Rage:0
Didn't he say the mistakes in Iraq belong to him a few days ago? He's already trying to deflect the blame to everyone else again.
seriously do no one really take responsibility anymore?
Well, the Taliban might not still be a major force in Afghanistan. Maybe Osama would actually have been caught.