Transcript: Bush Interview

President Spoke to 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley At Camp David

(CBS) 

PELLEY: I wonder if there was also some sense of satisfaction. You've had this guy in your sights for a long time.

BUSH: Not really. Not really. I was satisfied when we captured him. I'm just not . . .revenge isn't necessarily something that causes me to react. In other words, I'm not a revengeful person. I'm glad he received the justice that was due.

PELLEY: I'm curious. How did you see the video?

BUSH: Internet.

PELLEY: You called it up on the internet and watched it?

BUSH: Somebody showed me parts of it. Yeah. I didn't wanna watch the whole thing.

PELLEY: Well, you keep saying "parts of it." What do you mean you didn't wanna watch the whole thing?

BUSH: I wasn't sure what to anticipate beyond the yelling and stuff like that. And I didn't . . .

PELLEY: You didn't wanna see him go through the trapdoor.

BUSH: Yeah. Yes. I didn't.

PELLEY: Do you believe that the House has the constitutional authority to prevent you from the troop build-up? Can they stop you?

BUSH: By not funding the troops I suspect is what you're referring to.

PELLEY: That would be one . . .

BUSH: I assume that's one of their options. I will fight that, of course. 'Cause I think when you got a soldier in harm's way, they deserve a full support. I can understand why somebody doesn't agree with my plan, and there's gonna be plenty of opinions I'm sure about that in Congress, but when our troops are there, they need to be supported.

PELLEY: The Democrat leadership says, "We wanna support the troops who are on the ground. We just wanna redline the extra 20,000."

BUSH: Yeah. I will resist that. That would mean that they're not willing to support a plan that I believe will work and solve the situation. Listen, we've got people criticizing this plan before it's had a chance to work. And I, therefore, think they have an extra responsibility to show us a plan that will work. In other words, they're saying, "We're not even gonna fund this thing." And they're not gonna give it a chance.

PELLEY: There's no Democrat plan.

BUSH: It doesn't look like it to me. And maybe there will be one. Now, I've listened to a lot of good folks who are Democrats who have expressed their opinions. They're just as patriotic as I am. And the interesting is, Scott, a lot of people are saying, "Well, we can't afford to fail." In other words, people understand the consequences of failure. But what's deafening is those who say "we can't afford to fail and here's the plan that will cause us not to fail." Frankly, that's not their responsibility. It's my responsibility to put forward the plan that I think will succeed. I believe if they start trying to cut off funds, they better explain to the American people and the soldiers why their plan will succeed.

PELLEY: Do you believe as commander-in-chief you have the authority to put the troops in there no matter what the Congress wants to do?

BUSH: In this situation, I do, yeah. Now, I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I made my decision, and we're going forward.

[firemandav1]

To cdegolier's last post:

What?????? What are you talking about?

cdegolier:

Oh yeah, and I don't remember liberals forging or creating false evidence against Iraq either - that was the work of those corrupt conservatives, the Republican Party.

GW Bush and his corrupt buddies faked evidence to get what they wanted - I didn't see the liberals doing that.

Did you?

Could you please explain why the Conservatives had to fake evidence to do what they had been planning for years?

cdegolier wrote:

"Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-CT, September 4, 2002"

"Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, February 5, 2003"

"How soon liberals forget."

Firstly, I'm what you'd call a "liberal" (it's much better than being a non-forward thinking, backwards "conservative") and I haven't forgotten all those Democrats who supported Bush. There were plenty of them and they are hypocrites (as most politicians are).

But that certainly doesn't mean that many liberals agreed with them either in regards to Iraq and WMD's.

The problem with your argument is that they at least know that they were wrong - Bush and the rest of his corrupt admin held on for many years hoping that WMD's would show up. When they didn't, despite getting excited about some weather balloon vehicles, they still wouldn't admit that Iraq had WMD's.

The fact is, that until recently, Bush wouldn't even admit that his admin had made mistakes, and he kept supporting that idiot Donald Rumsfeld.

Just exactly how much does Rumsfeld hate America to have continued on with his failed plans. And just how much did GW Bush hate America to continue on with his failed plans?

Good god, but you Conservatives must really hate America to continue supporting GW Bush.

How many more Americans must die because of this buffoon?

[aldeo6]

Does anybody remember the ancient saying about options that goes "There's more than one way to skin a cat." Am I the only person who thinks that there are other, unexplored options to those we are being offered, to whit quit or continue.

cdegolier wrote:

"Bush is one of the best we have had."

He certainly is one of the "best" presidents that money can buy, that's for sure.

That's why he needs to hide the records of visitors to the Whitehouse.

[cdegolier]

I just don't know whether it was all destroyed years ago -- I mean, there's no question that there were chemical weapons years ago -- whether they were destroyed right before the war, (or) whether they're still hidden.

Maj. Gen. David Petraeus,
Commander 101st Airborne May 13, 2003

Before the war, there's no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. I expected them to be found. I still expect them to be found.

Gen. Michael Hagee,
Commandant of the Marine Corps May 21, 2003

Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we're interrogating, I'm confident that we're going to find weapons of mass destruction.

Gen. Richard Myers,
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff May 26, 2003

They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.

Donald Rumsfeld May 27, 2003

For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on.

Paul Wolfowitz May 28, 2003

[cdegolier]

By the way the WMD's

Every day Saddam remains in power with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and the development of nuclear weapons is a day of danger for the United States.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-CT, September 4, 2002

Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, February 5, 2003

How soon liberals forget.

[cdegolier]

By the way the WMD's

Every day Saddam remains in power with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and the development of nuclear weapons is a day of danger for the United States.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-CT, September 4, 2002

Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, February 5, 2003

How soon liberals forget.

[cdegolier]

lighthowse wrote
* How do you explain cutting taxes during war time? (I'm not allowed to write hot checks, but apparently, it must be okay for you).
I guess you forget about the increase in tax revenue do to the tax cuts.

"The big surprise has been in tax revenue, which is running nearly 15 percent higher than in 2004. Corporate tax revenue has soared about 40 percent, after languishing for four years, and individual tax revenue is up as well" NYTimes

* And not caring about your legacy? You're willing to keep this war going until the end of your term so someone else will be stuck with cleaning up your mess

I guess you missed that one also, that was a bash on Clinton, who during his presidency not only kept himself busy with interns but started planning and raising money for his library.

* All volunteer service? Doesn't sound volunteer to me when service men and women are not allowed to get out.

When a person enlists in the armed forces it is entirely voluntary, you choose enlist but you should maybe look at the rights given.

Military Discharges
Entry Level Performance and Conduct

Discharge for members in their first 180 days of active duty

Conscientious Objection
An objection to participation in war

That should answer some of your questions.
.

[cdegolier]

lighthowse wrote
* How do you explain cutting taxes during war time? (I'm not allowed to write hot checks, but apparently, it must be okay for you).
I guess you forget about the increase in tax revenue do to the tax cuts.

"The big surprise has been in tax revenue, which is running nearly 15 percent higher than in 2004. Corporate tax revenue has soared about 40 percent, after languishing for four years, and individual tax revenue is up as well" NYTimes

* And not caring about your legacy? You're willing to keep this war going until the end of your term so someone else will be stuck with cleaning up your mess

I guess you missed that one also, that was a bash on Clinton, who during his presidency not only kept himself busy with interns but started planning and raising money for his library.

* All volunteer service? Doesn't sound volunteer to me when service men and women are not allowed to get out.

When a person enlists in the armed forces it is entirely voluntary, you choose enlist but you should maybe look at the rights given.

Military Discharges
Entry Level Performance and Conduct

Discharge for members in their first 180 days of active duty

Conscientious Objection
An objection to participation in war

Typical of a crying liberal, doesn't ever know the facts. That should answer some of your questions.

[cdegolier]

Unbelievable, if Bush would have done nothing after 9-11 like Clinton most likely would have done all you pansy liberals would be crying about him not doing anything. If Kerry would have been elected we probably would not be in Iraq anymore, he would have pulled out as soon as his rating went down and most likely we would have been attacked again. Saddam would still be in power and New York would be leveled. Remember Bin Laden would not be here if Clinton would have done is job but he was to worried about his interns and his legacy. Bush is one of the best we have had.

[seajay8]

PELLEY: You know better than I do that many Americans feel that your administration has not been straight with the country, has not been honest. To those people you say what?

BUSH: On what issue?


Is this an apropriate response?
Q: Have you been honest with us?
A: About what?

[kalatur1]

To claim that Saddam threatened US security is like saying that communisim in Viet Nam threatened US security through the domino theory.

That is a profound similarity and both are wrong.

[robgee9]

The interview with the ever-smirking President Bush on the 60 Minutes program was troubling. When interviewer Scott Pelley asked the President what he says to people who feel he hasn't been straight about there being no WMD, 9/11-Iraq connection, and spending more than 10 times what we were told, he could only say, in effect "Congress agreed with me on WMD." Pelley should have followed up on the other two points.

Bush's smirk throughout the interview was disgusting. He comes off as a man who cares about only "winning." Winning means nothign when a war is founded on a false premise.
This man is not a leader.

[bitteral]

Question: Why didn't Pelley ask Bush about the Iraq Study Group? Cynical answer: because Israel didn't want him to. If we continue to play this rather evil game of war first, diplomacy second, the idea that this is going to be a wider regional battle will become a fait accompli. As much as it may seem distasteful to conservatives and fear provoking to democrats, the Palistinian issue is linked to our situation in Iraq. It is the fuel that feeds Arab radicalism. And the Lebanese war should have caused the pro-war folks in America as well as Israel to think hard about what the costs will be if we lose a larger regional war. Or are we going to just lay waste to the entire region? Heaven help us all if that is the plan.

[don80--2008]

This may not pertain directly to this interview but it is tangent to the theme. Recently George Bush said in the news that if we (the people, the congress, whoever) want to pull out of Iraq, we should come up with a plan. This is so illustrative of our current weak leadership. George Bush and his gold-mongering cohorts have gotten us into this ill-conceived debacle and now he tries the sleaze out from under the responsibility by claiming it is now our place to come up with a solution. And we the people, the congress, whoever just sit by and listen to this inane rhetoric. I fear for the future of our country, a country who can muster no stronger leadership than a country bumpkin whose command of his own language is an embarrassment to the American people.

[marcodele]

That "where's your plan" is exactly what the spinmasters want repeated on Fox news, Rush Limbaugh, and by Bush and Condy over and over again until the American idiots start believing that the opposition to the war has no plan. "Stay the course" which is the other spin we heard for over a year was also "not a plan."
The war's opponents have a plan: withdraw slowly, turning more security responsiblity over to Iraq. Our presence has caused the turbulence: increasing our presence will only increase the violence. Increasing the number of troops is not a plan, its a tactic.

[don80--2008]

This may not pertain directly to this interview but it is tangent to the theme. Recently George Bush said in the news that if we (the people, the congress, whoever) want to pull out of Iraq, we should come up with a plan. This is so illustrative of our current weak leadership. George Bush and his gold-mongering cohorts have gotten us into this ill-conceived debacle and now he tries the sleaze out from under the responsibility by claiming it is now our place to come up with a solution. And we the people, the congress, whoever just sit by and listen to this inane rhetoric. I fear for the future of our country, a country who can muster no stronger leadership than a country bumpkin whose command of his own language is an embarrassment to the American people.

[don80--2008]

This may not pertain directly to this interview but it is tangent to the theme. Recently George Bush said in the news that if we (the people, the congress, whoever) want to pull out of Iraq, we should come up with a plan. This is so illustrative of our current weak leadership. George Bush and his gold-mongering cohorts have gotten us into this ill-conceived debacle and now he tries the sleaze out from under the responsibility by claiming it is now our place to come up with a solution. And we the people, the congress, whoever just sit by and listen to this inane rhetoric. I fear for the future of our country, a country who can muster no stronger leadership than a country bumpkin whose command of his own language is an embarrassment to the American people.

[acrossamill]

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2007/01/16/another_vietnam