Must be working on communication skills to communicate stratergy.
Posted on 05/05/2004 1:22:57 PM PDT by Kaslin
WASHINGTON — Following is a transcript of an interview President Bush gave to Alhurra, the U.S.-funded Arabic cable channel, on the subject of alleged abused of Iraqi prisoners.
QUESTION: Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to do this interview with us.
Evidence of torture of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. personnel has left many Iraqis and people in the Middle East and the Arab world with the impression that the United States is no better than Saddam Hussein's regime, especially when those alleged torture took place in the Abu Ghraib prison, a symbol of torture of Iraqis under Saddam.
BUSH: Yes.
QUESTION: What can the U.S. — what can we do to get out of this?
BUSH: First, people in Iraq must understand that I view those practices as abhorrent.
They must also understand that what took place in that prison does not represent America that I know. The America I know is a compassionate country that believes in freedom. The America I know cares about every individual. The America I know has sent troops into Iraq to promote freedom; good, honorable citizens that are helping the Iraqis every day.
It's also important for the people of Iraq to know that in a democracy everything is not perfect, that mistakes are made. But in a democracy as well those mistakes will be investigated and people will be brought to justice.
We're an open society. We're a society that is willing to investigate — fully investigate in this case what took place in that prison.
That stands in stark contrast to life under Saddam Hussein. His trained torturers were never brought to justice. Under his regime there were no investigations about mistreatment of people. There will be investigations. People will be brought to justice.
QUESTION: When did you learn about the — did you see the pictures on TV? When was the first time you heard about the...
BUSH: Yes. First time I saw or heard about pictures was on TV. However, as you might remember, in early January, General Kimmitt talked about an investigation that would be taking place about accused — alleged improprieties in the prison. So our government has been in the process of investigating.
And there are two, more than two investigators — multiple investigations going on, some of them related to any criminal charges that may be filed. And in our system of law, it's essential that those criminal charges go forward without prejudice.
In other words, people need to be — are treated innocent until proven guilty. And facts are now be're a free society. That's what free societies do. If there's a problem, they address those problems in a forthright, up-front manner. And that's what's taking place.
QUESTION: Mr. President, in a democracy and a free society, as you mentioned, people investigate. But at the same time, even those who are not directly responsible for these events take responsibility. With such a problem of this magnitude, do we expect anyone to step down? Do you still have confidence in the secretary of defense?
BUSH: Oh, of course, I've got some confidence in the secretary of defense and I've got confidence in the commanders on the ground in Iraq because they and our troops are doing great work on behalf of the Iraqi people.
We're finding the few that want to try to stop progress toward freedom and democracy. And we're helping the Iraqi people stand up a government. We stand side by side with the Iraqis that love freedom.
But people will be held to account. That's what the process does. That's what we do in America. We fully investigate, we let everybody see the results of the investigation and then people will be held to account.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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