OK, Maybe I am too cynical a person, but really, this is ridiculous. Using a "Mission Accomplished" sign just a month after the troops entered Iraq? No shit that was a bad call. I feel bad for the guy a bit, and I do respect the gravity of the decisions that he had to make, but it doesn't really change the fact that he f****d up. Again and again and again. I'm sure that many people will read this and pity the guy and say that I am being mean, but in the end, he is not the only president who has had to sit in the Oval Office and make tough calls. Some people are meant for it, I guess, because many presidents have made many wonderful, inspired, incredibly difficult decisions. Some people, however, are not meant for it. Looking back on the past eight years... enough said.
Bush Says He Regrets Use of Iraq `Mission Accomplished' Banner
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said he regrets the display of the ``Mission Accomplished'' sign as backdrop for a speech he gave about a month after the March 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
``To some, it said, well, `Bush thinks the war in Iraq is over,' when I didn't think that,'' he said in a CNN interview today. ``It conveyed the wrong message.''
The sign was hung on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, when Bush landed on the carrier wearing a flight suit to declare that major combat operations in Iraq were over. That speech has since served as a rallying point for critics of Bush's policies in Iraq.
Bush also cited other regrets in the CNN interview, which was conducted aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York after a Veterans Day ceremony.
``I regret saying some things I shouldn't have said,'' Bush said. He cited comments he made after the Sept. 11 attacks, when he said of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden: ``I want justice. There's an old poster out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive.'''
He also said he regretted telling Iraqi insurgents in 2003: ``There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring 'em on.''
`Be Careful'
In the interview yesterday, he said, ``My wife reminded me that, `hey, as president of the United States, be careful what you say.'''
Bush, 62, also described his Nov. 10 meeting at the White House with his successor, President-elect Barack Obama, and said he asked former President Bill Clinton for advice on handling the transition.
``It was interesting to watch him go upstairs,'' Bush said of Obama's visit. ``He wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep. Clearly, this guy is going to bring a sense of family to the White House, and I hope Laura and I did the same thing. But I believe he will, and I know his girls are on his mind and he wants to make sure that first and foremost, he is a good dad.''
Bush said he would return to Texas when he hands over the presidency Jan. 20 and may write a book.
``I want people to know what it was like to make some of the decisions I had to make,'' he said. ``I've had one of those presidencies where I've had to make some tough calls, and I want people to know the truth about what it was like sitting in the Oval Office.''
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20081112/pl_bloomberg/ahlrnlvfhsmc#full
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2 comments:
now I don't feel bad but I do feel that there has been a lot more change in congress now then say 20 years ago when we did have good strong presidents. I think that Bush got told to say a lot of stuff and he did when he didn't have to but felt he should because he thought that's what we wanted to hear when we didn't. I think the people he picked to help him screwed him over, but that overall it was his fault because he tokk others advice instead of listening to himself. So I give no pity, but I can understand both sides and I know he really screwed himself over.
``I regret saying some things I shouldn't have said,'' Bush said"
... Ummm... wow... never did I see this coming... Bush regretting something that he had said. Why you might ask... let me think... oh yes I think it was back in 2004 when Bill O'Reilly interviewed Bush and this is what was said
"Lois Romano and Mike Allen write in The Washington Post that Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, in a sit-down with the president taped last week, "asked Bush whether he would still do the carrier landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath the 'Mission Accomplished' banner. At the time, 16 months ago, Bush referred to Iraq as a 'victory' and declared an end to major combat there.
" 'Absolutely,' the president replied in the interview, to air on Monday's 'O'Reilly Factor.' O'Reilly, apparently surprised, replied, 'You would?' 'Of course,' Bush continued. 'I'm saying to the troops, on this carrier and elsewhere, "Thanks for serving America." Absolutely. And by the way, those sailors and airmen loved seeing the commander in chief. . . . You bet I'd do it again.' " (Washington Post, 09/27/04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53932-2004Sep27.html)
To be honest I don't think I could ever say I am grateful for Bush and his presidency. The man is a graduate from Yale and Harvard whose father was a President himself. The guy did not do a good job and I am in complete shock that he admitted to one of the most grave mistakes our generation has ever known... Crazy...
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