| VARGAS: When you look back on those days immediately following when Katrina struck, what moment do you think was the moment that you realized that the government was failing, especially the people of New Orleans?
BUSH: When I saw TV reporters interviewing people who were screaming for help. It looked -- the scenes looked chaotic and desperate. And I realized that our government was -- could have done a better job of comforting people. A lot went right, by the way. I don't want to denigrate the efforts of people that really worked hard. Our Coast Guard people were flying incredibly dangerous missions to rescue I think over 30,000 people from the roofs of their homes. There was, you know, an amazing response from the citizenry who welcomed people who evacuated. And the state and the city evacuated a lot of people, and that caused there to be less loss of life. But the chaotic scenes were very troubling. It just -- it was very unsettling for me to realize our fellow citizens were in near panic wondering where the help was. |
Could he possibly make himself sound any MORE out of touch? He is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. He didn't realize the government for which he is responsible was failing in its response to Katrina until he saw people screaming on TV? And that, seeing that, he realized that they "could have done a better job of comforting people"? And that made him "unsettled"?Are you kidding me?
I know the myth of America is that anyone can grow up to be president, but good lord. If his papa hadn't held the job first, the closest this man would have ever come to the White House would have been the annual Fourth of July Smoke Out in Lafayette Park.
Then there's this section about Iraq:
| VARGAS: Let's move to Iraq. This has been a rough few days in Iraq since the bombing of the mosque in Samarra. There's been a lot of sectarian violence. We heard fresh reports of violence again today and reports from Baghdad that the violence in these past three days has been the worst since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. There was a lot of criticism from both the Shiites and the Sunnis of the U.S. military for standing back and not doing enough to stop the violence.
What is the policy if, in fact, a civil war should break out or the sectarian violence continues? Are you willing to sacrifice American lives to get the Sunnis and the Shiites to stop killing each other? BUSH: I don't buy your premise that there's going to be a civil war. There's no question that the bomber of the mosque is trying to create sectarian violence, and there's no question there was reaction to it. On the other hand, I had the duty, which I did, to call these leaders, Shi'a and Sunni leaders, as well as Kurdish leaders. And the response was that we understand this is a moment that we've got to make a choice if we're going to have sectarian strife or whether or not we're going to unify. And I heard loud and clear that they understand that they're going to choose unification, and we're going to help them do so. The presence of the U.S. troops is there to protect as many Iraqis as we possibly can from thugs and violence, but it's also to help the Iraqis protect themselves, and we're making progress in terms of standing up to these Iraqi troops so they can deal with, deal with these incidents of violence. VARGAS: But what is the plan if the sectarian violence continues? I mean, do the U.S. troops take a larger role? Do they step in more actively to stop the violence? BUSH: No. The troops are chasing down terrorists. They're protecting themselves and protecting the people, and -- but a major function is to train the Iraqis so they can do the work. I mean the ultimate success in Iraq -- and I believe we're going to be successful -- is for the Iraqi citizens to continue to demand unity. And remember, one of the things that's lost during this troubled week -- and there's no question it's a troubled week -- was the fact that 11 million Iraqis, about two months ago, went to the polls and said, "We want to have a democratic government." So there's still a will of the people there that are interested in a unified government. |
More than 1300 people have died since last week's mosque bombing, but Bush doesn't believe that there's "going to be" a civil war. His naive faith in the Iraqi leaders that he called would be cute if it wasn't so painfully obtuse. Sure, some people might want unity, but that's not the point. A civil war is by definition a disagreement over unity.
Let me repeat that: A civil war is by definition a disagreement over unity. Some want unity, others don't. When those who don't are willing to resort to violence to pursue their goals, civil war is the result. Is that clear enough for you, Mr. President? You'd think that the president of a nation that once fought one of the most spectacularly bloody civil wars in human history might at least know what one looks like.
Which reminds me... that last bit about elections? Where did Bush, along with some others get the idea that elections and civil wars are incompatible? Even a cursory reading of the history of Lincoln's election in 1860 would make it painfully clear that elections often can and do exacerbate existing cleavages and provoke full-scale civil war. Elections, by definition, define winners and losers in a way that is impossible to paper over. This isn't a novel concept, is it?
But please.... read the full transcript, and then tell me... Does anyone think this interview is going to help Bush in any way?
UPDATE: When Republican Senator Conrad Burns says that Bush's skull is made of "solid granite," is that supposed to be a good thing?
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