July 30, 2003
OFaL News Conference
OFaL (Our Fearless Leader) just held his 8th news conference ever. Here’s a sampling. Text from the news conference is in italics and my comments are bold.
QUESTION: Saddam Hussein's alleged ties to Al Qaida were a key part of your justification for war, yet your own intelligence report, the NIE, defined it as, quote, ``low confidence that Saddam would give weapons to Al Qaida.'' Were those links exaggerated to justify war or can you finally offer us some definitive evidence that Saddam was working with Al Qaida?
BUSH: I think, first of all, remember I just said we've been there for 90 days since the cessation of major military operations. Now, I know in our world, where news comes and goes and there's this, kind of, instant news and you must have done this and you must do this yesterday, that there's a level of frustration by some in the media--I'm not suggesting you're frustrated; you don't look frustrated to me at all.
Frustrated by your hemming and hawing? Yes, I am. Answer the question: were the AQ links exagerated?
But it's going to take time for us to gather the evidence and analyze the mounds of evidence, literally, the miles of documents that we have uncovered.
David Kay came to see me yesterday. He's going to testify in a closed hearing tomorrow, which in Washington may not be so closed, as you know. And he was telling me the process that they were going through to analyze all the documentation. And that's not only to analyze the documentation on the weapons programs that Saddam Hussein had, but also the documentation as to terrorist links.
And it's just going to take awhile. And I'm confident the truth will come out.
So, you refused to allow the UN inspectors time to do their job, but we need to have patience while you search for non-existent evidence of a non-existent WMD program? Where are the tons of chemicals that you specifically mentioned in your SOTU?
And there is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States' security and a threat to peace in the region. And there's no doubt in my mind that a free Iraq is important. It's got strategic consequences for not only achieving peace in the Middle East, but a free Iraq will help change the habits of other nations in the region which will make America much more secure.
But none of those reasons are justification for an invasion of a sovereign nation.
QUESTION: Building, sort of, on that idea, it's impossible to deny that the world is a better place and the region certainly a better place without Saddam Hussein.
But there's a sense here in this country and a feeling around the world that the U.S. has lost credibility by building the case for Iraq upon sometimes flimsy or some people have complained nonexistent evidence.
And I'm just wondering, sir, why did you choose to take the world to war in that way? You know, look, in my line of work it's always best to produce results. And I understand that.
(BUSH:) For a while the questions were, ``Could you conceivably achieve a military victory in Iraq? You know the dust storms have slowed you down.'' And I was a patient man because I realized that we would be successful in achieving our military objective.
Now, of course, the question is, you know, ``Will Iraq ever be free? And will be it peaceful?'' And I believe it will.
Uh, no. The question is, you know, “ sir, why did you choose to take the world to war in that way?” The question is: why did you exaggerate and lie in order to tip the public opinion in this country in favor of an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq? If it takes so much time to track these alleged weapons down, why didn’t you give the UN inspectors time to do their jobs?
I remind some of my friends that it took us a while to go from the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution. Even our own experiment with democracy, it didn't happen overnight. I've never expected Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in a 90-day period. And so this is going to take time.
And the world will see what I mean when I say a free Iraq will peace in the Middle East, and a free Iraq will be important for changing the attitudes of the people in the Middle East. A free Iraq will show what is possible in a world that needs freedom in a part of the world that needs freedom.
Is that the freedom to be shot by an occupying army, or the freedom to live in a lawless society which lacks even the most basic of necessities for its citizens, or some other form of freedom that I am forgetting?
Let me finish for a minute, please. Just getting warmed up.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm, kind of, finding my feet.
Here’s a hint: they’re usually connected to the ankle bones.
Saddam Hussein was a threat. The United Nations viewed him as a threat. That's why they passed 12 resolutions. Predecessors of mine viewed him as a threat.
We gathered a lot of intelligence. That intelligence was good, sound intelligence on which I made a decision.
And in order to, you know, placate the critics and the cynics about intention of the United States we need to produce evidence. And I fully understand it, and I'm confident that our search will yield that which I strongly believe: that Saddam had a weapons program.
Well, yeah, he had a weapons program. But lately?
I want to remind you, he actually used his weapons program on his own people at one point in time, which was pretty tangible evidence.
That was an awful long time ago. We know the guy is a murderous tyrant. But how do you figure that he posed a direct threat to the U.S.?
But I'm confident history will prove the decision we made to be the right decision.
Check the link above for the rest of the transcript.
It’s interesting that we have just been told of more vague threats against airlines, warned to be a little more alert. As long as OFaL can keep the masses running scared, no one will really notice anything else that’s going on. OFaL is the protective figure who will keep us from harm, as long as we never question his judgement or his actions.
The funny thing is that OFaL has done nothing to make us more secure. He’s taken away plenty of our civil liberties. He’s killed lots of people. He’s illegally invaded a sovereign nation. He’s made assassination official American policy. And he’s made sure that the vast majority of the world’s citizens resent America for our bullying imperialistic foreign policy doctrine. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel any safer.
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