Posted on 06/10/2008 2:03:42 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that he was a “guy really anxious for war” in Iraq. He said that his aim now was to leave his successor a legacy of international diplomacy for tackling Iran.
In an exclusive interview, he expressed regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled about how his country had been misunderstood. “I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.”
Phrases such as “bring them on” or “dead or alive”, he said, “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace”. He said that he found it very painful “to put youngsters in harm’s way”. He added: “I try to meet with as many of the families as I can. And I have an obligation to comfort and console as best as I possibly can. I also have an obligation to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain.”
The unilateralism that marked his first White House term has been replaced by an enthusiasm for tough multilateralism. He said that his focus for his final six months in office was to secure agreement on issues such as establishing a Palestinian state and to “leave behind a series of structures that makes it easier for the next president”.
Mr Bush is concerned that the Democratic nominee Barack Obama might open cracks in the West’s united front towards Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. At the EU-US summit in Slovenia, he pressed for tougher sanctions against Iran unless it agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment programme verifiably: “They can either face isolation, or they can have better relations with all of us.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
The man obviously will never learn that the vast majority of media hates his guts. His explanations fall on deaf ears to those people. He refused to express himself and his administration’s policies for seven years. He never “got” that all DC media has always hated Republicans, and they just scoffed at his “new tone.” In some ways, Bush has been one of the most naive presidents we’ve ever had. Too little. Too late.
I re-read some of his speeches that he gave just after 9/11 and they still get me going!!!
Did President Bush make this world safer? Indeed he did.
1) During the Bush Administration Libya gives up its nuclear weapons program.
2) During the Bush Administration the black market from Pakistan led by A.Q.Kahn for nuclear weapons technology is broken up.
3) During the Bush Administration North Korea begins dismantling their plutonium enrichment reactors.
4) During the Bush Administration Israel and the U.S.A. destroy Syria’s nuclear weapons enrichment reactors.
5) During the Bush Administration, Saddam Hussein who said quite clearly while in jail awaiting his trial that he would have had the U.N. sanctions broken and be in full production of WMDs within a year. That would be the years 2004 - 2005 approximately that Saddam would have been re-armed with WMDs. It now goes without saying the obvious that Saddam will not be getting nuclear weapons anytime soon. Nor will he be directly funding and training the terror group ‘Islamic Jihad’ which is al-Qaeda and whom blew up two U.S. embassies. (see the recent: Iraqi Perspectives Project).
6) During the Bush Administration the U.S.A. has nuclear weapon ambitious Iran pinned in on both sides from Afghanistan and Iraq which is pure strategic genius.
Under Clinton the countries Pakistan and India successfully test nuclear weapons and North Korea begins plutonium enrichment.
There are two moments that really strike my heart hard: (1) The time his eyes were tearing up heavy in the Oval Office after returning from the hospital and seeing our injured fellow citizens after the Pentagon was hit; and (2) the time when he was in NYC at Ground Zero with the bullhorn and his arm around the retired fireman. Thank you, again, President Bush.
There was no division on the war till the 2004 Elections.
Now there are 2. Even the brain dead Left should be able to do that much math.
We have a political party in this country who will use war as a political tool to get elected. That never happened before in our country. Shame on them and the people who support them.
way to go W. Show some kind of ‘contrition’ or remorse to these scumbags??? What do you think was going to happen? Did W think they would suddenly embrace him and offer him their eternal forgiveness and apologize for the hundreds of stories they did calling him a warmonger?
Bush never got that too many senile old “conservative” hated his dad so much they would spend 8 years doing nothing but hysterically whining about him no matter what he did. That he could not count on those finge Conservatives sense of political self interest but had to cater continually to their every emotional whimsy.
He never realized a segment of the Conservative movement would rather snipe their own side in the back non stop then ever have to fight the Left on anything at any time.
Bush didn’t want war.
He wanted security.
He was the best man for the job at the time, and I am happy he was there.
You give more credit than I do. My post you replied to I had sent to a liberal friend of mine. I got back incoherent BDS that boiled down to "Bush had nothing to do with those things."
I hope the President retires to Crawford and becomes a hermit,and I mean that positively.
Clear trees, ride your mountain bike, and soon bounce grandkids off your lap, you deserve it Sir.
You do not deserve what the chattering classes did to you for 8 years. I know it not in your nature Mr. President so I will do it for you. Russert, Mitchell, Matthews ,and all the rest of you Beltway and Northeast Corridor media types can kiss the CIC's and us here on the Freeps royal @$$es. And when you retire Sir, do not give them the time of day for at least 10 years.
I think Obama may take it and muck things up so much we may never recover. Maybe then and only then, people will look back and see this man gave millions liberty from the yoke of tyranny, and gave the nation his heart and soul, while the best the lib's could do is put a Save Darfur bumper sticker on their car.
I am going to miss him too./Just Asking - seoul62......
I see they still are screaming this tired old lie. 36 nations, including Britain, Italy, Spain, Poland Australia etc were part of the Coalition. Russia, France and Germany opposed. One has to be brain dead to buy that notion of "Unilateralism".
How quickly you forget.
New tone in Washington
New tone in Washington
New tone in Washington
New tone in Washington
yada yada yada
[That worked out well. Didn’t it.]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.