Comments on: Transcript: Bush Interview

President Spoke to 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley At Camp David

[jojomon1]

Elain5242: You're right, the intelligence was flawed and that's what caused the invasion. Now, this has been said a hundred times, but I'll say it again:

The intelligence was flawed because it was being fixed around the policy. Several voices in the intelligence community tried to say there were no WMDs. Those who weren't fired for speaking against the policy quickly learned to keep their mouth shut.

Just like there are tons of generals telling the president right now that a troop surge in Iraq will not win the war. He doesn't care. Because its not what he wants to hear.

[josephkee]

to Elaine5242
The equipment was blocked and not delivered. As a result the Lousiana national guard had no working communication system. Their equipment was in Iraq.

incompentence was the cause. Bush appears to believe that any thing he wishes is the truth. Bush said brown did a good job so any information to the contrary was ignored. Remember that we were told that everything was fine two hours after the ***** were breeched.

[elaine5242]

OK...this is getting weird, I'm done.

[josephkee]

The whole world did not believe the intellegence. Harpers Magazine published the Yellow cake letter and identified it as a forgery before the state of the union adress.

Outright lies were reported as verified truth to congress and the allies.

The tubing was never identifies as useful for centrafuges, by our governments experts their anaylsis was suppressed.

Bush does not believe in the ten commandments. He continues to Bear false witness as it suits him.

[elaine5242]

lighthowse

Bin Laden started WWIII, not Bush.

[elaine5242]

Josephkee

I read, a lot...and I don't listen to Rush.

That's ridiculous. I know Natl. Guard people who were there and worked their tails off. All the rescues were shown across the TV screen.

Do you think there was some sort of conspiracy to not help the people in New Orleans?

Maybe you need some new sources of news.

[elaine5242]

Well, you're right, we probably do go where we want and do what we want, but usually that ends up keeping things stable, not war-torn.

I think what makes us different is that we usually have a good reason for doing what we do and it's typically for the good of someone else.

We helped fight off Hitler, he got rid of Manuel Noriega, we helped the Bosnians (we did it too late, but finally went in). And when we go, we bring tents and food and water and supplies, etc. We are a very giving country.

The difference in Iraq is that the intelligence the entire world had (and as I've said earlier) Republicans and Democrats all had and believed at the time gave us reason to believe Saddam had and would sell weapons to terrorists. Hindsight is 20/20. If the intelligence hadn't been flawed and we'd found the weapons would you feel differently?

We are a phenominal country with very giving people. We are willing to go around the world to help people without asking anything in return. Yes, we've made mistakes, but don't lose sight of all the good we've done, and continue to do.

[lighthowse]

Bush's changing strategy just confirms what I said earlier, he didn't have a plan when he went in to Iraq.

This smacks of grasping at straws. And mark my words, Bush has started World War III.

[josephkee]

Elaine5242 more revisionist history. La requested national guard assistance before Katrina hit.

Rumsfield personally blocked the use of emergency communication equipment from out of state and ordered the Naval Aviators from pensacola not to assist. The one Helocopter crew that responded and rescued a family was diciplined and threatened with prosecution.

Where do you get your information Drug Rush Lie & Bawl or Sean Howl and lie.

[lighthowse]

My problem with our government is they go where they want, when they want, and do what they want. They do it under the guise that they know what's best for the world. We
are a very young country in the grand scheme of things. I see us as an unruly teenager. We think we know everything and we have the might to do it. If another country acted as we do we'd be labeling them as an invading force and call for their heads.
I think as a whole the people of the United States are a very giving and generous bunch however our government is out of control. Personally I like to see every Democrat and Republican replaced with Independents or anyone else. We need to clean house and then do it again in 4 years until our elected leaders learn who they're working for.

[elaine5242]

The strategy is different in a couple of ways.

1...and most importantly...the Iraqi govt. isn't going to keep us from chasing all the bad guys. In the past they would say, "Oh, you can't get him (like Al-Sadr) because it'll cause issues. Those days are over. Regardless of your religious preferences, if you're killing people, we're going to track you down and take you off the streets.

2...The additional troops will allow us to clear, hold and build areas. The hold part is most important. Before we didn't have enough troops to secure the areas that had been cleared. Now, once they are cleared there will be enough Iraqi and US troops to hold the secure areas indefinitely.

[elaine5242]

My husband is in SF and as Americans we don't go in and assassinate leaders of other countries, contrary to popular belief. I'm not sure where that myth comes from.

On the issue of training people who end up bad. I have one question for you...have you ever had a friend who turned out to be a jerk. I have. When we were friends, I thought he or she was great and then one day they turned out not to be. That's life. We don't have a crystal ball to tell us who will be bad and who will be good. We do what we think is best at the time...helping Bin Laden and Afghanistan fight the Soviets...it was the cold war, we thought it was the right thing to do. How could we have know he was going to become a religious zealot?

[josephkee]

Bush still is not changing his course. We are continuing the same policy that has not worked. This is the fourth temporary surge. Doesnt any one remember the surge's for the elections, Fallujah(twice) and last september's.

Iraq's army is a poorer copy of the Vietnamese army. 60% of their troops existed only to collect pay. It appears that 95% of Iraq's army exixts only on paper. Where are the 400,000 trained troops Cheny claimed we had in 2004!

Now to cover their screw ups they are lieing their way into another war. The " enemy agents" were invited in by the Kurdish government, the only true allies we have in the region. They have begun the pattern of lies again.

If we strike Iran on this basis we will lose.

[elaine5242]

Well, that's an entirely different issue...and last time I checked, the President chose his VP, not the other way around.

I can't speak to the Halliburton contracts, all I know about that is the Fed. Govt. cannot go into a state with natl. guard and aid until the state govt. requests it. Bush begged the Gov. of LA to allow them to come in prior to the Hurricane and she wouldn't approve it.

Yes, the response could've been swifter, but at least 75% of the blame rests with the state govt. of LA. By the way, the U.S. military rescued something like 35,000 citizens in 72 hours after Katrina.

No other country in the world could have reacted that quickly, then moved all of those people, fed them and then given them money to live on. I think we're pretty amazing.

The lesson here is that people need to be prepared to fend for themselves in the 72-96 hours following a natural disaster. If the govt. has made any mistake it's not telling the people to be prepared to care for themselves. I am prepared and expecting to be responsible for me.

[lighthowse]

Isn't it ironic that we put the jerk in power, just like we trained Bin Laden as well. We have a nasty little habit of putting people in power to further our own agenda. More often then not it comes back to bite us.

Yes, he needed taken out, that's what we have special op folks for. We could have just taken him out, we would have gotten blamed for it even if we hadn't. I just hate liars, and Mr. Bush is one.

[lighthowse]

I personally believe Cheney wanted the power of the office without the scrutiny, so he picked Bush for the name recognition factor. It's no coincedence that at election time the only thing we see are names plastered everywhere! To be president you need to be a GREAT communicator, Bush has failed miserably in this respect. Only in America can you be a complete failure and become president.

Amazing that we can come to the aid of countries half way around the world but we can't show up to help our own citizens. I can almost believe our govenment didn't show up just to create more revenue for Halleburton. I't illegal to give out government contracts without bidding. Halleburton was given a "no bid" contract to rebuild after the hurricanes. And consequently a week later was allowed to forgo the inconvienence of having to pay union wages. And Cheney says he has no ties to Halleburton. Right!

[elaine5242]

Do you know what Saddam was doing to his people before we invaded? Cutting their heads off, spying on them at every turn, shooting them in firing squads, gassing them.

War is obviously not a great alternative, but if it leads to freedom for them, it'll be much better than that.

Have you ever read any books about what he did to the Iraqi people?

[elaine5242]

I think the issues are much more complicated than money.

The government is trying to protect us, and has, by doing as much as it can as quickly as it can. I agree, our borders are an issue, but short of building a North American "Great Wall", I'm not sure how they could totally secure them.

Maybe the thinking is that they know people are getting on planes so they can and will make sure there aren't any security breaches.

On the borders, they probably try to secure the most vulnerable areas and patrol the rest. It's scary...and what makes it worse is that statistically, the terrorists will eventually get through again. We've thwarted a bunch of things since 9/11, here and in the UK, but eventually, they'll probably get through again. It's just a matter of time.

[maman29]

Bush is extremely audacious and it is heart breaking that he believes the iraqi people owe americans a thank you...(oh! we are being killed like ants because of the decision your president made...wow thank you...we have no homes, relatives, friends, etc,..because they are dead, no, but we are thankful) has this president lost his mind? this is wrong and it has to end. I don't know what kind of God he believes in because the God that all the Christians know does not recommend these kinds of treatments.

[elaine5242]

Danelle,

I have to say I don't share your feelings toward GB, but you have the right to feel that way. I think he's been vilified by the press for years and perception is reality and they got what they wanted...to bring him down. They've done everything they can to make him look bad...your feelings tell me they've succeeded.

He has met with widows in our unit and they were moved by his compassion toward them. Despite what you think, he's a good man and has a lot of feeling for the sacrifices soldiers and their families are making. I'm not sure how you can compare him to a man like Hitler who gassed millions or Saddam who did terrible things to his own people, including gassing the Kurds.

Bush doesn't want to control the world...we're one of the few countries in history that actually goes in and helps other countries, pays to rebuild their infrastructure and leaves. We're not trying to get more land, we're trying to give these people hope and a future so they won't want to strap on a bomb.

It may be a bold strategy and it may fail, but the middle east is a serious issue and it's been getting worse for years...Taliban in Afghanistan, Hamas, Hezbollah, the list goes on. The free world has to step up or the problem will snowball...if one of these terrorist groups is able to secure a nuclear weapon, then we'll all be in a terrible mess. The problem is not going to just go away.