President Bush Says His Rhetoric ‘Indicated To People That I Was, You Know, Not A Man Of Peace’
President Bush Says His Rhetoric ‘Indicated To People That I Was, You Know, Not A Man Of Peace’
The Times of London reports that “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”:
In an exclusive interview, [Bush] 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”.
I think it probably would have been easier for the president to have avoided giving the impression that he was a “guy really anxious for war” in Iraq if he hadn’t been, you know, a guy really anxious for war in Iraq.
I seriously doubt that Bush regrets his rhetoric as much as he regrets the disaster that his war became. At the time, Bush was having fun playing Churchill, Jr., but he’s begun to realize that, rather than being remembered as Mr. Freedom, he’s more likely to be remembered as Mr. The Guy Whose Rank Incompetence And Insecurity Helped Turn Iraq Into A Sectarian Killing Field, and this displeases him. As it should.
2 Responses to “President Bush Says His Rhetoric ‘Indicated To People That I Was, You Know, Not A Man Of Peace’”
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Go figure, with Pres. Bush’s term nearing a close, he’s finally realized what he’s done in choosing to invade Iraq. It took five years for this to sink in! A little slow on the up-take Mr. President?
June 11th, 2008 at 1:52 pmHe’s just recognizing and lamenting the fact that his tenure will be recorded as an incompetent, corrupt and failed presidency with the Iraq invasion and occupation being the single greatest foreign policy disaster in the history of the republic.
I hope someone tells him that invading Iran will not save his legacy.
He’s run his entire administration on perception management (AKA propaganda). Unfortunately, facts have a way of bubbling to the surface and his failures are now there for everyone to see. Just ask Scott McClellan (and Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke and Erik Shinseki and Anthony Zinni and Paul Eaton and John Batiste and Greg Newbold and Bob Woodruff and John Diiulio and David Kuo and… Then there are just a few liberals who are critical of him too).
Buh-bye Georgie, you hack, and good riddance!
June 11th, 2008 at 2:32 pm