BUSH: "One thing about Don Rumsfeld is he understood mistakes." [View All]

[kpete]

Pres. Bush sat down with FNC's Hume:

............

On Rumsfeld: "He was signaling throughout the fall that perhaps we needed a fresh approach. He's just as impatient as I am about success in Iraq. One thing about Don Rumsfeld is he understood mistakes."

On people calling Iraq a civil war: "I've heard a lot of voices say that. And I've talked to people there in Iraq who don't believe that's the case. ... Most of the country outside of the Baghdad area, is relatively peaceful, doesn't indicate a civil war as far as they're concerned. And by the way, I get briefings all the time about where the level of violence is and the American people I think would be interested to know, most of it occurs around the Baghdad area. And therefore they don't get to see, kind of the normalcy of life outside of the Baghdad area."

On using his father's advisers: "I am the commander in chief. I make decisions based upon what I think is best to achieve our objectives and that ..."

Hume: "Well, was your father involved in the decision to name Gates?"

Bush: "I asked what kind of man Gates was with him, of course, he knows him."

Asked if he gets advice from his father: "No. Listen, I love my dad. But he understands what I know, that the level of information I have relative to the level of information most other people have, including himself, is significant and that he trusts me to make decisions."

more at:
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/12/hotline_after_d_126.html