Bush Incoherent Again
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:02 pm
Bush on the NIE report that states that the Iraq war has increased the number of terrorists worldwide, served as a recruiting poster for anti-U.S. terrorism, and has made us less safe:
BUSH: You know, to suggest that if we weren't in Iraq, we would see a rosier scenario with fewer extremists joining the radical movement requires us to ignore 20 years of experience. We weren't in Iraq when we got attacked on September the 11th. We weren't in Iraq, and thousands of fighters were trained in terror camps inside your country, Mr. President. [Karzai] We weren't in Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993. We weren't in Iraq when they bombed the [USS] Cole. We weren't in Iraq when they blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. My judgment is, if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse, because they have ambitions. They kill in order to achieve their objectives.
The Media Matters website asks this of Bush:
* In dismissing concerns about the Iraq war's effect on terrorist recruitment, you noted that we were not in Iraq when Al Qaeda carried out the 9-11 attacks. But who is arguing that terrorists didn't exist prior to September 11, 2001? Do you not think it possible that the terrorist threat could have grown since then?
* You say that if we weren't in Iraq, the terrorists would find "some other excuse" to get people to join their ranks. But the NIE reportedly concluded not only that Iraq is being used for propaganda purposes, but also that it is being effectively used to swell the ranks of the terrorists. Was it a mistake to give the terrorists an "excuse" that they have effectively used to make the world more dangerous?
Here.
BUSH: You know, to suggest that if we weren't in Iraq, we would see a rosier scenario with fewer extremists joining the radical movement requires us to ignore 20 years of experience. We weren't in Iraq when we got attacked on September the 11th. We weren't in Iraq, and thousands of fighters were trained in terror camps inside your country, Mr. President. [Karzai] We weren't in Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993. We weren't in Iraq when they bombed the [USS] Cole. We weren't in Iraq when they blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. My judgment is, if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse, because they have ambitions. They kill in order to achieve their objectives.
The Media Matters website asks this of Bush:
* In dismissing concerns about the Iraq war's effect on terrorist recruitment, you noted that we were not in Iraq when Al Qaeda carried out the 9-11 attacks. But who is arguing that terrorists didn't exist prior to September 11, 2001? Do you not think it possible that the terrorist threat could have grown since then?
* You say that if we weren't in Iraq, the terrorists would find "some other excuse" to get people to join their ranks. But the NIE reportedly concluded not only that Iraq is being used for propaganda purposes, but also that it is being effectively used to swell the ranks of the terrorists. Was it a mistake to give the terrorists an "excuse" that they have effectively used to make the world more dangerous?
Here.
