In Rare Talk Show Interview, Bush Defends Decision on War

[kskiska]

President Bush said Saturday that he did not want the commission he appointed to be hurried in evaluating prewar intelligence about Iraq's banned weapons, and he said voters would have plenty of opportunity to evaluate the decisions he made about the war even though the commission will not report until nearly five months after Election Day.

(snip)

Asked by Tim Russert, the host of "Meet the Press," whether the war was worth 530 American lives and thousands of injuries even though inspectors have found no stockpiles of banned weapons in Iraq, Mr. Bush said it was "essential that I explain this properly to the parents of those who lost their lives."

Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader, "was dangerous, and I'm not just going to leave him in power and trust a madman," Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush invoked the judgment of David A. Kay, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq. In addition to concluding that Mr. Hussein did not have the weapons stockpiles the president had cited as a primary justification for the war, Mr. Kay told interviewers last month that Iraq might nonetheless have been more dangerous than the United States had judged.

"For the parents of the soldiers who have fallen who are listening, David Kay, the weapons inspector, came back and said, in many ways Iraq was more dangerous than we thought," Mr. Bush said.

more…
http://nytimes.com/2004/02/08/politics/campaign/08BUSH.html

Looks like it's Kay's fault.

[MasonJar]

1. It isn't an interview when it isn't live. The Dems have to go live.

[aquart]

2. But Kim Jong Il is okey dokey by him?

I can hear the WH cooing, "Oh look, he's showing his compassion. What do you think that's good for? A five point rise? Ten? Maybe even 20?"

[rocktivity]

3. Thanks for the support, Georgie

Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader, "was dangerous, and I'm not just going to leave him in power and trust a madman," Mr. Bush said.

Good! That means you'll understand, Georgie, why there are so many Americans who don't want to see YOU left in power!


rocknation

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Big stakes, they will do what it takes

Pretty clear that they think the Iraq mess is important huh?

Otherwise, they would never bother with Russert. That bastard never fails to do the next obvious linear thinking shit political move.

[Langis]

5. Why didn't Tim ask...

Who appointed Mr. Kay?

[Snappy]

6. Russert

He doesn't get paid for asking Hardball questions. This so called interview was merely a campaign infomercial.

[Erika]

7. How abour Resolution 137

Maybe I've missed comment on the Iraqi Constitution. Resolution 131 would return women to be subject to the Sharia law. No education or equality of freedom for Iraqi women any longer.

[TheWebHead]

8. video preview of Russert interview

from NBC News
http://my.msn.com/video/default.armx?setcp=B&prepend=a82411ea-21fd-40f0-997e-17a45b81f9de&undock=true

[diamond14]

10. sounds bad for the shrub....almost like the 'I am NOT a crook'

speech made by nixon, before his big fall....

hemming and hawing and wiggling around, trying to find words to explain sending over 520 YOUNG American soldiers to their deaths....

maybe shrub could just modify nixon's famous words a little, into
"I am NOT a war-criminal"....

and the look on shrub's face says it all...the shrub doesn't care about OUR soldiers at all...not one bit...

[snippy]

18. Very good. I like that comparison. The possibilities are endless.

I am not a liar.


I am not a moron.


I am not a desperate madman.

[TheDonkey]

11. Micro$oft won't let mac users download

must have new versions of their monopo.. um' OS system.
:puke:

[TomNickell]

21. Freakin *holes.

Yep, it's explicitly stated.

Maybe that's better. Usually they let you try, but not work for some unexplained reason.

[Danieljay]

12. He's Toast!

Russert might not be the best interviewer, but it doesn't take a good interviewer for Bush to come across as a total idiot, and by the looks of the clip.... he did just that. Watch them spin this one.

[creeksneakers2]

9. Did Kay ever say Iraq

was more dangerous than we thought? Pretty low to lie to the families of killed servicemen.

[Whoa_Nelly]

13. What Kay really said...

Bush telling more half-truths....:::sigh:::

Kay:
“I think the world is far safer with the disappearance and the removal of Saddam Hussein. I have said I actually think this may be one of those cases where it was even more dangerous than we thought. I think when we have the complete record you're going to discover that after 1998 it became a regime that was totally corrupt. Individuals were out for their own protection. And in a world where we know others are seeking WMD, the likelihood at some point in the future of a seller and a buyer meeting up would have made that a far more dangerous country than even we anticipated with what may turn out not to be a fully accurate estimate.”


http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:4G31Lo-KsHgJ:rjchq.org/media/PDF/David%2520Kay01_04.pdf+david+kay+%22more+dangerous%22+iraq+senate+testimony&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[creeksneakers2]

14. Thanks

n/t

[leesa]

24. I never heard that quote. He just fabricates it as he goes.

Russert is Cheney's neighbor and friend. No one expected a real interview, did they? If I were a service member I would be outraged.

[abracadabra]

15. can't wait to see a pigboy & a chimp in the morning!!

Almost like waking up in a zoo !
Boosh is edited?
ha !
-bet he'll still sound like the dim son that he is.

[opihimoimoi]

16. TOAST..... he is toast.....

[CJCRANE]

17. Saddam learnt his lesson over 10 years ago

when he invaded Kuwait and got his military pummelled into the ground. He was pretty much contained and could have been kept contained by ongoing weapons inspections at a cost of $80 million a year.

[chenGOD]

19. Just watching this on AFKN (in Korea)

Did he just say "the war against terror is a war against people who hide in caves"?

What about spelunkers?

[Catt04]

20. LOL

New addition to terrorist list.

[chenGOD]

22. well it's just that I thought...

the people waging terror were comfortably sequestered in the White House and/or working on the major news networks....

shows how much I know.

[Just Me]

23. Excellent observation, chenGOD! *eom*