National - by Charlie Eisenhood on Monday, December 1, 2008 17:16 - 6 Comments
Bush: My Greatest Regret Is Bad Intelligence
What a shockingly predictable end to a woeful presidency. In an interview with Charlie Gibson airing tonight, President Bush had this to say when asked if he had any “do-overs” during his presidency:
I don’t know — the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn’t just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that’s not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.
First of all, Bush continues to push the constant lies about the intelligence, which was not all “slam dunk.” And Matt Yglesias points out in a great post, “The administration deliberately went out of its way to re-write intelligence reports as less ambiguous than they really were — compare the classified and unclassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq — and to ignore reports that didn’t match the administration position.”
Even ignoring that, Bush’s statement today is stunningly Bushian in its complete denial of responsibility. His greatest regret should be his own bad intelligence and absolutely incompetent governing. It amazes me that he can fail to acknowledge at least some moment of failure in his administration.
Gibson asked him, “As you leave, what do you think the country’s feeling is about George W. Bush?” Bush replied, “I don’t know. I hope they feel that this is a guy that came, didn’t sell his soul for politics, had to make some tough decisions, and did so in a principled way.”
It’s been a long eight years for principles.
6 Comments
maggie brown
George Bush, hopefully with Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Phil Zelikow and others, will be held accountable for the damage they have done the middle east and our country. HIgh Crimes, for certain.
http://www.prosecutionofbush.com/about.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDAFozFn4kU
Not being impeached is one thing, but the allowance of both crimes against humanity (unjust war, lying to the american people for the benefit of a few, and the subsequent death of many) and a total lack of accountability as it pertains to the financial sector (aka skimming, corporate greed/cronyism), are equally immoral.
DIck Cheney should have been impeached: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_House_Resolution_333
As should GW:
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio
In the United States House of Representatives
Monday, June 9th, 2008
A Resolution
“Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate: Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its
impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.
Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.
Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor
Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes
Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources
Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries
Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency
Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq
Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors
Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives
Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy
Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture
Article XX
Imprisoning Children
Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government
Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws
Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment
Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens
Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements
Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply
Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice
Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare
Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency
Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change
Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.
Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001
Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders”
Chris Kennedy
lol great video. He just keeps on living in his own reality, doesn’t he. I guess that is the only way he can rationalize out his presidency.
Josh Becker
Okay, I don’t like Bush, but let’s be fair. What did you expect him to say? “I totally sucked as President and was responsible for pushing our nation into its worst foreign quagmire since Vietnam and also fucked up Hurricane Katrina”? Those things are true, but it’s unrealistic for him to admit to that on national television. Of course his answer was going to be diplomatic–he’s still technically in office, after all. Would anyone openly admit to being so sucky?
Of course, I wouldn’t expect him to say “I sucked.” However, he said his greatest regret was something that he had no responsibility for. How can that be? That’s like saying, “My greatest regret is that you made a mistake.”
It just goes to show how isolated he is from the reality based community.
jay thompson
Bush is not isolated from reality, I think most politicians will tell you behind close doors that he is aware his acts have been criminal. The dumb card has been played daily…aww…he’s just a stupid guy, that’s all, he’s not a criminal.
He and Cheney have been protected by Nancy Pelosi and a Congress unwilling to stop unfounded wars of aggression, and it’s really sad how a good percentage of americans still don’t understand that the military complex is running the show at 1600 Washington.
Plus, the guy is a billionaire, so his money and power are not questioned.
Want to start saving our country? Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Thank you JFK.
Check where our taxpayer dollars are being spent, folks. Apathy and a lack of protest against these useless wars, bailouts and even third term mayoral races is essentially killing our country.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.militarycuts26nov26,0,6519492.story
…
Target: military budget
Where will Obama find the money for his ambitious programs? Look no further than the bloated Department of Defense
By Erica Etelson
November 26, 2008
…”The president-elect is very smart, but he’s not a magician. He cannot conjure from thin air the trillions it will take to fix our broken systems. Mr. Obama promised to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans as a way of funding his ambitious programs; now it appears he intends to delay those increases. The most sensible way to raise revenue without raising taxes is to make substantial cuts in defense spending, starting with an immediate withdrawal of forces from Iraq.
Not one U.S. president has heeded President Dwight Eisenhower’s warning against the rise of the military-industrial complex. On the contrary, every administration has allowed the Pentagon and the defense industry to amass just the degree of “unwarranted influence” Mr. Eisenhower dreaded. And it just keeps getting worse; since 2001, defense spending has doubled, and President Bush has requested a record $711 billion in defense spending for 2009.”
A RECORD $711 billion in defense spending for 2009! Really! Why can’t that money be spent on healthcare, education, things that matter, not goose hunting for a guy who was in US Military employ for several years? Oh
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Aw I just feel bad for him.