Bush admits mistakes in Iraq

[sabra]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-04-06T183643Z_01_N06296520_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-IRAQ.xml&archived=False

Bush admits mistakes in Iraq


<snip>

In some of his frankest language so far, Bush responded to a question on what he could have done differently in Iraq by acknowledging the United States could have moved faster in training Iraqi troops and police.

He said Iraqi security forces were originally trained to handle external threats but instead the threat came from inside the country, from al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"In retrospect, we could've done better," Bush said. But he insisted the overall U.S. strategy in Iraq had been correct.

Bush said he was "just as disappointed as everybody else was" about erroneous pre-war U.S. intelligence on Iraq. U.S. officials had said they had evidence that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction but none were found.

[grytpype]

1. He even lies about what his mistakes were. n/t

[saigon68]

8. United Police States of America

[rodeodance]

2. rather vague

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. "In retrospect, we could've done better,"..............

Me thinks that, given the chance, George Custer may have said the same thing.

[NYC]

5. Custer paid for his mistake.

Significant difference. But, I wait.

[Solly Mack]

4. That man is so full of shit it's a wonder he doesn't draw flies

He invades a country illegally
He initiates a policy of torture
He disappears people
He "renditions" people
He erases civil liberties

and he dares to attempt a half-assed, self-serving, self-righeous, full of shit mea culpa?...as if "we could've done better?" has absolutely any meaning whatsoever?

[cliss]

6. Reading between the lines....

Town Hall participant: Mr. Bush, what are the biggest mistakes from the war in Iraq?

Bush: Oh, that's easy. You see, Paul Bremer made a lot of mistakes, by firing the Ba'ath people. They needed to take a bath heh heh. Furthermore, General Tommy Franks really screwed things up. He ran the war from his living room in Florida. Stupid....shakes head. And Rummy? We won't go into that.

Town Hall: Well, what about all the expenses? People were using $1,000 bill bundles as footballs. What about all the money down the drain?

Bush: Oh,......yes....uh....eh...that can be directly traced to Alan Greenscum. He was in fact the one who authorized reckless waste.....

Town: How do you explain Abu Ghraib? The privates say their orders came from the top. The Attorney General.

Bush: Oh, no, that would never happen. Mr. Gonzales doesn't own a German Shepherd.

[underpants]

7. He's just testing the waters for a sort of apology and that won't matter

any kind of apology (half assed as it will be) will be directed at the independents. His base would probably never hear about it and will support no matter what happens.

[MichiganVote]

9. Bush isn't running for office anymore, he can say anything and as usual

it means absolutely nothing.

[pinniped]

10. The boogeyman gone dun it!

His being born was a fucking mistake.

[Vickers]

11. He's an idiot. From a logistics standpoint, it doesn't matter where your

adversaries are coming from. Saying they expected external threats and got internal ones reveals his utter ignorance of war in general and tactics in particular.

And his disappointment in the pre-war intelligence SHOULD be an admission that he warped what little they had to his own ends.

What a pathetic goddam little jackass. Maybe, just MAYBE, if he would've gone to war when it was *his* fucking turn, he might know some of this stuff.

[SKKY]

12. Well, he finally appears to be getting a firm grasp on the...

...ABSOLUTELY IN-YOUR-FACE PLAIN FUCKING OBVIOUS!!!!

[warrens]

13. Since when is "we" an admission of a mistake?

He's a narcissistic sociopath. They never admit mistakes. If things go wrong, they just blame others, the weather, a black cat crossing their path...whatever is handy.

[Az_lefty]

14. disbanding the Iraqi Army was a huge mistake...

now we're trying to rebuild it from scratch and it's just not working.
I don't have time to mention all the other "total screw ups" in bush's little war.

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. It's the mistakes he made here that are so harmful.

Like declaring war on "over there"