The President sounds off on this week's Meet the Press on NBC:
Russert: On Iraq, the vice president said, “we would be greeted as liberators.”President Bush: Yeah.
Russert: It's now nearly a year, and we are in a very difficult situation. Did we miscalculate how we would be treated and received in Iraq?
President Bush: Well, I think we are welcomed in Iraq. I'm not exactly sure, given the tone of your questions, we're not. We are welcomed in Iraq.
Russert: Are you surprised by the level and intensity of resistance?
President Bush: No, I'm not. And the reason I'm not surprised is because there are people in that part of the world who recognize what a free Iraq will mean in the war on terror. In other words, there are people who desperately want to stop the advance of freedom and democracy because freedom and democracy will be a powerful long term deterrent to terrorist activities.
See, free societies are societies that don't develop weapons of mass terror and don't blackmail the world.
If I could share some stories with you about some of the people I have seen from Iraq, the leaders from Iraq, there is no question in my mind that people that I have seen at least are thrilled with the activities we've taken.
Rhonda & Jane are forced by sheer incredulousness to comment:
1. "Well, I think we are welcomed in Iraq." ??? The man either lives in a bubble, is lying, or he's crazy.
2. "I'm not exactly sure, given the tone of your questions, we're not." Translation: the liberal media do not love freedom and democracy.
3. "If I could share some stories with you about some of the people I have seen from Iraq, the leaders from Iraq, there is no question in my mind that people that I have seen at least are thrilled with the activities we've taken." The man either lives in a bubble, is lying, or he's crazy.
4. "In other words, there are people who desperately want to stop the advance of freedom and democracy because freedom and democracy will be a powerful long term deterrent to terrorist activities." Oh god, not this again. Somebody please get rid of this talking point. Democracy is not a deterrent to terrorist activities - look at Israel. Terrorist activities happen because somebody hates you, and terrorists see an America that acts like the world is its fiefdom. Change the way we interact with the world, and the hatred will change.
5. "...[F]ree societies are societies that don't develop weapons of mass terror...." Well, the U.S. led the world in developing nuclear weapons. We're the only ones to use them, not once but twice. And we're willing to bet that most reasonable people (i.e., those outside of the Bush administration) would count nukes among weapons of mass terror.
What you don't say anywhere on your website is who can do a better job, and provide specific facts to support why.
Posted by: Ryann on February 9, 2004 04:54 PMExcellent point, Ryann - Rhonda and I are very much looking forward to doing exactly that in the near future. We do have 259 reasons to go, and it will be a relief to accentuate the positive.
But come on, that interview! Did you see it? Zowie. The man just scares the hell out of us.
Posted by: Jane on February 10, 2004 02:30 AMYour point #1 & #3: I have talked, personally, with several returning Marines and soldiers who have been on the front lines in Iraq. The Iraqis absolutely love us and do not want us to leave. It's the Sunni Shiites who hate us. We're the infidel to them, the satans from the west. They are the infiltraitors to Iraq. So what's your point?
Your point #4: Seems like we did just what you suggest while Clinton was in office and we got bombed in NY. The thing in Israel isn't even a talking point to compare us with since their problem goes back 3,500 years and has an entirely different construction.
Terrorist activities happen because someone hates you? True. And they hate us even when we don't do anything to them because their system makes everyone their enemy. Can't you see that?
Your point #5: Now you have a point! But the counterpoint is stronger. Think about it...
If Truman didn't use the nuke during WW2, we would have lost upwards of 1,000,000 American soldiers. Since it was first invented by Nazis and we beat them to the punch, we're wrong? Actually, since communists had it and others sought it, the best deterrent we've had to nuclear war is having more than they had. Logic to them said, if we hit them, they hit us harder. Who loses? All do but we do more. So let's not hit the US. We'll die if we do. And no one has used one since.
I'll tell you, if there were a way to get rid of the nuke, I'd do it today. But since there are nations and rogue groups who do have it. I don't want to be the unarmed one when the shooting starts; I'm sorry! No I'm not.
Posted by: Tom on February 21, 2004 02:22 PM"It's the Sunni Shiites who hate us"?!? Evidently "Tom" is on crack, and with the depth of ignorance about him which allows him to think that things are all hunky-dory for the US in Iraq. Perhaps even to vote Republican.
"Tom": look up "shiite" and "sunni" in the dictionary... educate yourself, man.
Posted by: Tony on October 7, 2004 06:58 PM
