- How his story has changed...
-
- ... on WMD
-
- "The Iraqi regime possesses and produces chemical
and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the
regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard
gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas." 7 OCTOBER 2002
-
- "He had the capacity to have a weapon, make a weapon.
We thought he had weapons." YESTERDAY
-
- "America must not ignore the threat gathering against
us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof,
the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
8 OCTOBER, 2002
-
- "He could have developed a nuclear weapon over time
- I'm not saying immediately but over time." YESTERDAY
-
- ... on Osama bin Laden
-
- "I don't know whether we're going to get him tomorrow
or a month from now or a year from now. I don't really know. But we're
going to get him." 14 DECEMBER, 2001
-
- "I have no idea whether we will capture or bring
him to justice." YESTERDAY
-
-
- WASHINGTON -- "I'm not
going to change." With those five short words, President George Bush
has set out his stall for the forthcoming election that suddenly looks
a lot trickier than even a month ago. And America and the world have been
served notice: anyone who expects new circumstances to produce a new Bush
is mistaken.
-
- Yesterday's hour-long interview with Tim Russert on NBC'sMeet
the Press programme was the most sustained media grilling Mr Bush has undergone
since he took office, a rare occasion in which a ducked question did not
automatically pass by unchallenged.
-
- Mostly, he was on the defensive. Mr Russert allowed him
little opportunity for the folksy rambles he uses to extricate himself
from a corner. Mr Bush's most frequent expression was a tight lipped smile.
As usual, he often groped for words. None too subtly, he shifted his rationale
for the invasion of Iraq, conceding that weapons of mass destruction might
not exist, though still holding open the possibility that WMD might be
found or have been moved to another country.
-
- But at bottom it was the familiar George Bush, stubborn,
unyielding and utterly convinced of the rightness of his cause. Saddam
Hussein, he insisted, had the capacity to develop weapons, if not the weapons
themselves - and no responsible American president could rely on the word
of a "madman" who had used WMD in the past and might now give
them to terrorists.
-
- "He had the capacity to have a weapon, make a weapon,"
Mr Bush said. "We thought he had weapons. The international community
thought he had weapons. But he had the capacity to make a weapon and then
let that weapon fall into the hands of a shadowy terrorist network. He
could even have developed a nuclear weapon."
-
- The war, he maintained, had been justified by the intelligence
he had received. Nor, despite the failure thus far to find a single chemical,
biological, let alone nuclear, weapon, was the job of the CIA director
in jeopardy. The spy agency was "ably led" by George Tenet, Mr
Bush assured.
-
- On the economy it was the same story. Even conservatives
in his own party have criticised Mr Bush for fiscal recklessness in permitting
the federal deficit to soar to $521bn this year (£284bn), compared
to the $281bn surplus bequeathed by Bill Clinton in 2001. But an unapologetic
Mr Bush insisted the tax cuts, which have largely caused the deficits,
were justified. "You've got to cut taxes to create jobs," he
said, even though 2.2 million jobs have been lost during his presidency.
-
- He blamed the deficits on the "terrible stress"
brought on by recession, a tumbling stock market, and, of course, the terrorist
attacks of 11 September 2001. In fact, Mr Bush maintained, the economy
was once more in fine fettle, and was again starting to create jobs.
-
- But just as the Iraq war was, in his words, a war "of
necessity, not of choice," the same applied to the interview itself.
An unaccustomed fear gnaws the White House, that this president might be
going the way of his father, defeated after a single term. Mr Bush enjoys
a press conference as much as a cat enjoys a cold bath. But his handlers
decided it was essential to regain a political initiative suddenly seized
by his political opponents, in this invigorating Democratic presidential
season.
-
- Mr Bush, it should be said, still has a huge amount going
for him: a largely untapped $150m campaign war chest, a slowly improving
economy, and the historical precedent that no incumbent without a primary
challenger has ever been defeated. But this has been a miserable fortnight.
-
- His State of the Union speech, normally a gift election-year
platform for an incumbent, was judged a failure even by supporters. Elements
in his own party have attacked his supply-side economics.
-
- His Vice-President, Dick Cheney, with his Halliburton
connections and refusal to admit even the tiniest misjudgement in Iraq,
looks more of an embarrassment with every passing day. Now, it is whispered,
senior Cheney aides could face indictments arising from the investigation
into the "outing" of the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson - the
uranium from Africa whistleblower - as a CIA agent. All of this, added
to the WMD debacle, puts at risk Mr Bush's electoral trump cards, credibility
and straight talking - and the polls are telling him so.
-
- A Newsweek survey today finds that his overall approval
rating has dropped to 48 per cent, below the 50 per cent mark for the first
time, and at almost exactly the level of his father at the same point in
his presidency. The same poll found John Kerry, the Democratic front runner,
defeating Mr Bush 50-45 per cent if the election were held today. To all
these difficulties, Mr Bush's reply yesterday was blunt. He portrayed himself
as a man not afraid to make the toughest choices. "I'm a war president,"
he said early in the interview. "I make decisions in the Oval Office
with war on my mind." Yes, he conceded: "I expected there to
be stockpiles of weapons" - though of course none had been found.
But David Kay, the US's former chief weapons inspector, "found the
capacity to produce weapons ... Saddam Hussein was a dangerous man in a
dangerous part of the world". America "can't stand by and hope
for the best with a madman."
-
- But what of the hyperbolic pre-war rhetoric, giving the
impression that Saddam was an immediate mortal threat? Mr Bush was unrepentant:
there was no such thing as "ironclad, absolutely solid intelligence",
he said. The Iraqi leader had been a "direct threat" to America.
-
- To the families of the dead and wounded American soldiers
in Iraq, his message was that their sacrifice had been worth it. "Every
life is precious," Mr Bush said of the 530 US servicemen killed since
the invasion, and the 3,000 wounded. But "in many ways Iraq was more
dangerous than we thought. We're in war against terrorists, who are going
to bring harm to America. A free Iraq will change the world, and make it
possible for our children to grow up in a safer world."
-
- Later, as the interview turned to more personal matters,
the warrior President denied taking liberties with the rules when he served
in the National Guard during the Vietnam war. He dismissed charges by Democrats
that he had gone "AWOL" in 1972 when he transferred from Texas
to the Guard in Alabama. "They're wrong," he said flatly of critics
who said he skipped pilot training sessions in Alabama. "This is politics.
I've heard this ever since I started running for office."
-
- On that score, Mr Bush is right. The election campaign
has begun, and he will fight it as he has run the country for the last
37 months. "Divisive - who, me?" he said. "I don't know
why I'm perceived as a divider, I'm working hard to unite the country ...
I talk about what I believe." He told Democrats and others apropos
of the election: "I'm not going to lose.I'm going to lead this world
to more peace and freedom. I've shown the people I can lead and make big
decisions when the times are tough."
-
- In short, take me or leave me, I'm not going to change.
-
-
- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=489240
-
-
- Comment
- From Karma Blank
- 2-9-4
-
- Hey Jeff,
-
- I forced myself to watch the (p)Resident on Meet the
Press this morning. At one point Tim Russert asked King George about Skull
& Bones. King George just started chuckling, said it was secret, and
wanted to move on making light of it all. Tim quickly asked "How about
the number 322?". Tim gave up after that, but it was interesting watching
Dubya squirm and force a chuckle. Anyone else catch this? I would love
to see stills of that segment, because body language is important and I
think his should be analyzed. Anyway, great site & show!
-
- Steve
Comment
From Alton Raines
2-9-4
-
- And I thought Nixon was a good liar. SHEESH!!! No competiton!
Bush wins hands down. By the way, if you want to see something amazing,
go to comedycentral.com and click on the Bush vs. Bush real player video.
They pieced together Gov. Bush from before the election with President
Bush, after the election and asked questions of each -- you just have to
see it to believe it. You'll see just how he lied to gain the trust of
the people, and just how much he has violated that trust now.
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