President Bush's 'biggest regret': I was unprepared for war
BY RICHARD SISK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, December 2nd 2008, 12:50 AM
WASHINGTON - President Bush issued a stunningly candid critique of mistakes on his watch Monday night, saying he was "unprepared" for the 9/11 attacks and calling the flawed case for war in Iraq his "biggest regret."
"That's a do-over that I can't do," Bush said of his decision to attack Iraq based on the faulty intelligence that dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess," Bush said in a joint interview with First Lady Laura Bush on ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson."
Members of Congress from both parties and the spy agencies of other nations also concluded that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but "the biggest regret of all" in his term as commander in chief Bush said, "has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq."
GOP strategists have argued that toppling Saddam was worth going to war whether or not Iraq had nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, but Bush said he wasn't sure.
"You know, that's an interesting question," Bush said when asked what he would have done ifhe had known the intel was bogus. "It's hard for me to speculate."
Bush said he never expected to be a wartime President. Despite briefings warning that Al Qaeda was ready to strike in the summer of 2001, Bush said, "I think I was unprepared for war" when the planes hit the towers on 9/11.
"In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me; I'll be able to handle an attack,'" Bush said. "In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents - one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen."
Asked if Barack Obama's election was a voters' verdict on him, Bush said, "I think it was a repudiation of Republicans.
"And I'm sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me," he continued. "I think most people voted for Barack Obama because they decided they wanted him to be in their living room for the next four years explaining policy."
Bush professed to be unconcerned about his approval ratings hitting historic lows, or about what historians will write.
"I will leave the presidency with my head held high," Bush said, but he also regretted his failure to curb the bitter partisanship that has prevailed in Washington.
"Frankly, it just didn't work as well as I'd like to have it work," he said.
Bush said he was thinking about writing a book when he gets back to Texas and will also be sorting out what he intends to do with the rest of his life.
"The thing that's important for me is to get home and look in that mirror and say, 'I did not compromise my principles,'" he said. "And I didn't. I made tough calls. And some presidencies have got a lot of tough decisions to make."
As for the eventual verdict of the American people on his eight years in the Oval Office, Bush said, "I don't know. I hope they feel that this is a guy that came, didn't sell his soul for politics, had to make some tough decisions and did so in a principled way."
Laura Bush was more upbeat: "I think they think he's somebody that kept them safe for eight years. And I think - and I hear that all the time, people thanking me, telling me to thank him."
rsisk@nydailynews.com
BY RICHARD SISK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, December 2nd 2008, 12:50 AM
WASHINGTON - President Bush issued a stunningly candid critique of mistakes on his watch Monday night, saying he was "unprepared" for the 9/11 attacks and calling the flawed case for war in Iraq his "biggest regret."
"That's a do-over that I can't do," Bush said of his decision to attack Iraq based on the faulty intelligence that dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess," Bush said in a joint interview with First Lady Laura Bush on ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson."
Members of Congress from both parties and the spy agencies of other nations also concluded that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but "the biggest regret of all" in his term as commander in chief Bush said, "has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq."
GOP strategists have argued that toppling Saddam was worth going to war whether or not Iraq had nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, but Bush said he wasn't sure.
"You know, that's an interesting question," Bush said when asked what he would have done ifhe had known the intel was bogus. "It's hard for me to speculate."
Bush said he never expected to be a wartime President. Despite briefings warning that Al Qaeda was ready to strike in the summer of 2001, Bush said, "I think I was unprepared for war" when the planes hit the towers on 9/11.
"In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me; I'll be able to handle an attack,'" Bush said. "In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents - one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen."
Asked if Barack Obama's election was a voters' verdict on him, Bush said, "I think it was a repudiation of Republicans.
"And I'm sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me," he continued. "I think most people voted for Barack Obama because they decided they wanted him to be in their living room for the next four years explaining policy."
Bush professed to be unconcerned about his approval ratings hitting historic lows, or about what historians will write.
"I will leave the presidency with my head held high," Bush said, but he also regretted his failure to curb the bitter partisanship that has prevailed in Washington.
"Frankly, it just didn't work as well as I'd like to have it work," he said.
Bush said he was thinking about writing a book when he gets back to Texas and will also be sorting out what he intends to do with the rest of his life.
"The thing that's important for me is to get home and look in that mirror and say, 'I did not compromise my principles,'" he said. "And I didn't. I made tough calls. And some presidencies have got a lot of tough decisions to make."
As for the eventual verdict of the American people on his eight years in the Oval Office, Bush said, "I don't know. I hope they feel that this is a guy that came, didn't sell his soul for politics, had to make some tough decisions and did so in a principled way."
Laura Bush was more upbeat: "I think they think he's somebody that kept them safe for eight years. And I think - and I hear that all the time, people thanking me, telling me to thank him."
rsisk@nydailynews.com
Bravo my good man, bravo!
Oh please... the world would shut down without oil. It needs to be protected. Maybe one day we will live off electricity from wind, cow shit & mice running on wheels, but that day isn't today.
Give me a plausible scenario of what would happen if we suddenly had no oil tomorrow. I would love to hear this.
No need to argue.
