Bush Wednesday: I Understand Iraq "Consequences Firsthand"

The following is excerpted from an Interview of the President by RTL and N-TV, German TV:

Q Do you think there's a point where you'd say only a military option is a possibility for us?

THE PRESIDENT: I would never say that. I would say that we would always try to try diplomacy first. In other words, I -- I've committed our troops into harm's way twice, and it's not a pleasant experience because I understand the consequences firsthand. And so I owe it to the American people to say that I've tried to solve this problem diplomatically. And that's exactly what I intend to do. And I believe we can do it, so long as the world works in concert. And Chancellor Merkel understands the dangers and she wants to solve this issue peacefully.

Q The U.S. has imposed some harsh sanctions on some parts of the Iranian government.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q The Russians were pretty much against that. Do we see a new rift growing between Russia, on the one hand, and the United States on the other hand?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I don't think so. I mean, look, there's going to be -- there's places where we disagree. No, it's a complicated relationship with Russia.

Q Why that?

THE PRESIDENT: Why is it? Just because we've got a history. It's not easy to eradicate history overnight. You might remember, we were quite antagonistic to each other for years. And so I've tried to work hard with Vladimir Putin to put the Cold War behind us, and focus on a positive future. There are still suspicions about U.S. intentions inside the Russian system.

Read entire transcript.

Comments

[01202009]

If “First Hand” means staggering around the Air National Guard in Texas during the Vietnam War and going AWOL, then I guess Bush has the experience. If “First Hand” means thinking he’d be swaggering around Baghdad as Conquer-in-Chief after a few weeks of fighting and a few billion in spent funds, then I beg to differ. Bush fell hook, line and sinker for the bullshit that the neocons dished to his willing ears. They drew pictures of a conqueror’s glory, of ticker-taped parades, of statues erected and portraits hung in his honor. What did he get? Despair, dishonor and a video game sandwiched between GOP fundraisers. He’s positively Shakespearean in failure.

[ashabot]

.
Bush is a monster as only a religious fanatic can be. He may smile and express his regrets but inwardly he believes he can do no wrong..

[wagonjak]

Everytime this incredible a**hole opens his maw, insanely stupid and clueless statements dribble out, confirming to the rest of the world that our president has no idea of real diplomacy or logical thought.

Two of his favorites...it's too complicated for the rest of us to understand, and hard work, workin' hard, or some other inane variation thereof.

He needs to be impeached, tried for treason, and thrown in jail for the rest of his life!

[ihavenobias]

The Bush Administration's 4 part strategy to get a war with Iran:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuB1h1GBoys&eurl

[sos]

actually, wade, if you click the link to the full transcript at the bottom you will be redirected to the WHITE HOUSE TRANSCRIPT which huffpo has taken word for word.

[helonias]

First hand? You mean there a secret Bush brigade in Iraq in harms way.

Hmmmm. he doesn't even understand the English language.

[bija]

As usual, Bush sounds like an idiot. The cold war was over until he came along and now he is starting it up again.

[GhostintheMachine]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=492663&in_page_id=1811

This is why he understands the consequences first-hand.

President Bush was wearing "a huge smile," but his eyes were red and he looked drained by the time he got to the last widow, Crystal Owen, a third-grade schoolteacher who had lost her husband in Iraq. "Tell me about Mike," he said immediately. "I don't want my husband's death to be in vain," she told him. The president apologized repeatedly for her husband's death. When Owen began to cry, Bush grabbed her hands. "Don't worry, don't worry," he said, though his choking voice suggested that he had worries of his own. The president and the widow hugged. "It felt like he could have been my dad," Owen recalled to NEWSWEEK. "It was like we were old friends. It almost makes me sad. In a way, I wish he weren't the president, just so I could talk to him all the time."

Bush likes to play the resolute War Leader, and he has never been known for admitting mistakes or regret. But that does not mean that he is free of doubt. For the past three years, Bush has been living in two worlds--unwavering and confident in public, but sometimes stricken in private. Bush's meetings with widows like Crystal Owen offer a rare look inside that inner, private world.

Privately, Bush has met with about 900 family members of some 270 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The conversations are closed to the press, and Bush does not like to talk about what goes on in these grieving sessions, though there have been hints. An hour after he met with the families at Fort Bragg in June, he gave a hard-line speech on national TV. When he mentioned the sacrifice of military families, his lips visibly quivered.

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2005/08/15/bush-meets-with.php

[Dap]

==

The boy is OUT OF HIS FRIGGIN MIND ! Psychopath.

[SlimChance]

wadenelson1- What does it matter how HuffPo writes the headline? Bush is full of shit and he doesn't understand war "first hand" at all. He couldn't even be bothered to do his stateside job when he was the the TANG.

[BeamMeUpScotty]

Having ducked his responsibility to serve his country in battle during the Vietnam War, GW knows squat about what the soldiers in the Iraq/Afghanistan war are suffering and enduring.

He is an armchair warrior and deserves nothing but our contempt.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Bush the murdering liar speaks about Consequences.

[Plowboy]

George W. Bush, you are one lying piece of shit. I recall that, after your primp session prior to your announcement of your illegal invasion of Iraq, on your way to do that announcement on TV you giggled like a silly little girl and pranced a bit with your two thumbs stuck up like a Hollywood kid flick hero, and said, "FEELS GOOD!"
Understand the consequences? Not you, you stupid, saddistic little toad exploder!
Understand the consequences? Not the hero of waterboarding, indefinite imprisoinment, tyorture and death without a hearing. Not the great shithead from Hell, George W. Bush.
And not any shit who thinks you anything else.

[wadenelson1]

He didn't say "I understand Iraq first-hand."

He said "I understand the consequences [of an invasion] first-hand"

Please Huffpo, don't use quote marks for something other than a direct quote in a headline.