The President’s Q&A

After the great speech given by President Bush today he opened it up to Q&A, and he was on fire. Other blogs have already dealt with the silly ignorant question asked about the apocalypse so I will pass that one up (check out Blogs For Bush, Expose The Left, Stop The ACLU, & RightWinged for their take on it).

Here are a few that stand out:

QUESTION: Mr. President, at beginning of your talk today, you mentioned that you understand why Americans have had their confidence shaken by the events in Iraq. And I’d like to ask you about events that occurred three years ago that might also explain why confidence has been shaken.

Before we went to war in Iraq, you said there were three main reasons for going to war in Iraq: weapons of mass destruction, the claim that Iraq was sponsoring terrorists that attacked us on 9/11, and that Iraq had purchased nuclear materials from Niger. Now, all three of those turned out to be false.

My question is, how do we restore confidence that Americans may have in their leaders and to be sure that the information they’re getting now is correct?

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: That’s a great question.

First, if I might correct a misperception. I don’t think we ever said — at least I know I didn’t say — that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein. We did say he was a state sponsor of terror.

By the way, not declared a state sponsor of terror by me, but by other administrations.

We also did say that Zarqawi, the man who is now recking havoc and killing innocent life, was in Iraq.

And so the state sponsor of terror was a declaration by a previous administration.

But I don’t want to be argumentative, but I was very careful never to say that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks on America.

Like you, I mean, I asked that very same question: “Where’d we go wrong on intelligence? ”

The truth of the matter is the whole world thought that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. It wasn’t just my administration. It was the previous administration. It wasn’t just the previous administration.

You might remember, sir, there was a Security Council vote of 15 to nothing that said to Saddam Hussein, “Disclose, disarm or face serious consequences.” The basic premise was, “You’ve got weapons” — that’s what we thought.

When he didn’t disclose and when he didn’t disarm and when he deceived inspectors, it sent a very disconcerting message to me, whose job it is to protect the American people and to take threats before they fully materialize.

My view is he was given the choice of whether or not he would face reprisal. It was his decision to make. And so he chose to not disclose, not disarm as far as everybody was concerned.

[…]QUESTION: My basic question is how can we help you — from the grassroots level, how can we help you promote the cause of freedom and liberty for all peoples throughout the world?

BUSH: I appreciate that.

My main job is to make sure I make the case as plainly as I can, why it’s worth it.

And I fully understand. You know, I understand people being disheartened when they turn on their TV screen and see the loss of innocent life.

We’re compassionate people. Nobody likes beheadings. And nobody — that innocent children get car bombed.

So it’s my job, sir, to make it clear about the connection between Iraq and the war on terror. It’s my job to remind people that progress is being made in spite of the violence they see. It’s my job to make it clear to people the stakes.

I’ve spent time talking about what happens if we were to lose our nerve and Iraq would fall to the Al Qaida. The stakes are high.

Look, I understand, some don’t view that we’re in a war against the terrorists. I know that. And therefore, you know, there’s a sense that 9/11 might have been an isolated incident. I just don’t agree.

And here is the basis from which I make decisions.

You heard one, is that 9/11 affected the way I think. I know these are like totalitarian fascists. They have an ideology. They have a desire to spread that ideology. And they’re willing to use tactics to achieve their strategy.

And one of the tactics, as I said early on in the speech, the stated objectives of Al Qaida. This isn’t my imagination of their strategy. This is what they have told us. And I presume you want the commander in chief to take the words of the enemy seriously. And they told us they believe we’re soft, and that with time we’ll leave. And they’ll fill the vacuum. And they want to plan and plot and hurt Americans.

That’s what they have said. And I think it’s really important we take their words very seriously.

And so I will continue making the case, sir.

And the best way you can help is to support our troops. You find a family who’s got a child in the United States military, tell them you appreciate them; ask them if you can help them. You see somebody wearing a uniform, you walk up and say, “Thanks for serving the country.”

Ours is a remarkable country where hundreds…

(APPLAUSE)

… where we’ve got thousands of people signing up, volunteering for the United States military, many of them after September the 11th, knowing full well what they were signing up for.

And what’s amazing about our military is that retention rates are high. People are still signing up. They want to defend the country. And for that I am grateful.

But it’s my job, sir, to lay out the strategy, and to connect the notion of liberty with peace. And that’s hard for some. Sometimes there’s a little bit of a point of view that says, “Well, maybe certain people can’t be free. Maybe certain people can’t self- govern.”

I strongly believe that liberty is universal. I believe in the natural rights of men and women. That was part of our founding. And if you believe that, if you believe in the universality of freedom, then I believe those of us who are free have an obligation to help others become free.

Here is his great answer to a question about who the enemy is in this war:

And the fundamental question that I know people ask is whether or not democracy, one, can take hold in Iraq and, two, will it change people’s attitude about the future? And I believe it will.

History has proven that democracies can change societies. The classic case I like to cite is Japan. Prime Minister Koizumi is one of my best buddies in the international arena. And when we sit down, we talk the peace.

I find it interesting that he is a peacemaker with me on a variety of issues and yet my dad fought the Japanese and I’m sure many of your relatives did as well.

Sixty years ago, Japan was a sworn enemy of the United States. Today they’re an ally of peace. And what took place? Well, what took place was a Japanese-style democracy.

I can’t say I promise you this, but I suspect that if somebody were standing up at the City Club of Cleveland talking about, “Don’t worry, some day Japan is going to be peaceful with the United States and the 43rd president is going to be designing how to keep the peace,” they’d say, “Get him off the stage. What’s he thinking? They’re the sworn enemy.”

And now they’re our ally. So I have faith in the capacity of democracies to help change societies.

And again, I repeat to you, the debate — one of the debates, is whether or not certain folks can self-govern. “Maybe there are some in the world that aren’t capable,” say the skeptics.

I strongly disagree with that. I believe there’s a great desire for people to be free.

I believe that.

And history has proven that democracies don’t war with each other.

Again, I, kind of, glossed over this, but particularly for the students here, look at what happened in Europe over a 100-year period, from the early 1900s to today.

Europe was at war twice that cost Americans thousands of life. Today, they don’t war, because the systems of government changed. Democracies are at peace. Europe is at whole, free and at peace. And that’s an important history lesson for those of us.

What I’m saying to you, ma’am, is that there’s a battle for Iraq now, but it’s just a part of the war on terror; it’s a theater in the war of terror. Afghanistan was a theater.

And we’re in a global battle which requires strong alliances, good cooperation and a constant reminder of the nature of this war.

The man is on fire! He needs to be doing this EVERY day.

Curt

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