bush, blair admit myriad mistakes

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Irvine511

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[q]Analysis: Euphoria gone for Bush and Blair
By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
Fri May 26, 7:45 AM ET

WASHINGTON - President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair looked less like cheerleaders for the latest milestone of democratic political progress in Iraq and more like world-weary leaders who had met their match.

Subdued and understated, the two politicians most responsible for beginning a war now highly unpopular with both their publics acknowledged sour notes during a news conference at the White House on Thursday night, possibly their last joint appearance. Bush displayed almost none of his trademark backslapping bonhomie. Blair looked dour even when reporting hopeful signs from his trip to Iraq this week.

Both men were euphoric in victory when their military juggernaut dethroned Saddam Hussein. The three years since then have been costly, and both leaders talked remorsefully about mistakes made.

"Not everything since liberation has turned out as the way we had expected or hoped," Bush said. "We've learned from our mistakes, adjusted our methods and have built on our successes."

Bush admitted in hindsight he regrets rough and tumble rhetoric, such as saying he wanted Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" and taunting terrorists to "bring it on." He also cited the shameful abuse of Iraqis at the hands of American captors at Abu Ghraib.

Blair pointed to the wholesale dismissal of Saddam loyalists who ran the top military and government posts and the shocking strength of the insurgents.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060526/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_blair_analysis

[/q]



turned a corner ... last throes ... turned another corner ...
 
I listened to that conference on NPR, and I have to say I was actually pretty impressed with how Bush handled himself. Although he did partially cop out of the "bring it on" statement by saying it was "misinterpreted" in certain parts of the world.
 
anyway, *this* is what makes me most happy:

[q]Bush admitted in hindsight he regrets rough and tumble rhetoric, such as saying he wanted Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" and taunting terrorists to "bring it on." He also cited the shameful abuse of Iraqis at the hands of American captors at Abu Ghraib.[/q]

i think many of us who were opposed to the invasion would have been far more supportive of the effort, both pre and post-war, if we'd ever gotten an ounce of humility and/or contrition on the part of the president in light of the multitude of mistakes, fabrications, half-truths, and misleading statements that have come out of his mouth and those of the administration officials, and that's not even to mention the condoning of torture by US soldiers and trying to pass off something as horrifying as "waterboarding" as "not torture."

this would have been the kind of leadership we needed, and the Iraqi people needed, in 2004. instead, it was always male bravado at its worst, the bravado that refuses to stop and ask for directions when you're lost in the Maine wilderness, the kind that swings a big metaphoric dick of self-righteousness received through entitlement.

so, grovel Bush. grovel Blair. eat your words, every last one of them and try not to let all the dots on the "i's" in "mission accomplished" get caught in your throat.

i'm glad to see you've dropped the "bring 'em on" horseshit and are ready to stop playing cowboy (or spaceman?) and try to act like an adult. seek forgiveness, admit how wrong you've been, apologize, and then, let's make amends and try to somehow fix this situation.
 
Desperate words from two very unpopular politicians.

In other words: too little, too late.

Melon
 
Irvine511 said:
[q]



"Not everything since liberation has turned out as the way we had expected or hoped," Bush said. "We've learned from our mistakes, adjusted our methods and have built on our successes."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060526/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_blair_analysis

[/q]

The "we've learned from our mistakes, adjusted our methods" scares me. Not so much in regards to Blair, he's done, but Bush.
Does this mean the next invasion will be much better staged?
 
I think Bush's biggest mistake leading up to the invasion was by basing it on the existence of WMD's. I know about the UN Resolution. I still think that argument is flawed, resolution or no resolution. Bush would have had a stronger argument if he'd talked more about Saddam's excesses. I didn't know some of this stuff. He did some horrible things. I was aware of some of them but not all of them. Guys like Saddam shouldn't be in power. I'm not saying I would have supported the invasion if Bush had used this argument but I might not have opposed the invasion to the extent that I did. I went to the local demonstration protesting the invasion on February 15, 2003, the day protests were held all over the world, with a high fever. Going to the demonstration just about killed me, but that's how much I opposed this invasion. Someone in Turkey was talking to me about how you have to build democracy in a slow, methodical matter. You can't just topple a dictator and make a country a democracy in a short time. The Turks think that Iraq is going to end up with another dictator. They could be right. Someone could grab power in the current instability and the current politicians could be out on their asses. I hope this doesn't happen, for the sake of the Iraqi people. They sure have been through alot.
 
verte76 said:
I think Bush's biggest mistake leading up to the invasion was by basing it on the existence of WMD's.

How would the primary post-invasion problem (insurgency) change based on a different reasoning for starting the invasion?
 
nbcrusader said:


How would the primary post-invasion problem (insurgency) change based on a different reasoning for starting the invasion?

It wouldn't. I'm just saying that if we had gone in using the Evil Despot doctrine, I might not have been so opposed to the invasion. Since the insurgency has gotten to the level it has, driving out a quarter of the country's middle class, etc, etc, it looks like a huge botch. It may have ended Blair's political career, and Bush's, too. If Bush doesn't have a successful second term, and so far I wouldn't say he is, then he's finished.
 
reply

melon said:
Desperate words from two very unpopular politicians.

In other words: too little, too late.

Melon

Agreed, Melon, so where does it go from here with still no timetable in sight for U.S. force withdrawal...nothing tangible......{but what has been tangible about this entire invasion....except a series of uncertainties.......}. It's like writing a novel with no ending.....just let the reader hang on or draw their own conclusion.

:|
 
They're both done. Stick a fork in me done, done.

Good riddance to both.
 
verte76 said:


It wouldn't. I'm just saying that if we had gone in using the Evil Despot doctrine, I might not have been so opposed to the invasion. Since the insurgency has gotten to the level it has, driving out a quarter of the country's middle class, etc, etc, it looks like a huge botch. It may have ended Blair's political career, and Bush's, too. If Bush doesn't have a successful second term, and so far I wouldn't say he is, then he's finished.
Can you cite a source for the "quarter of the middle class" fleeing the country claim. The NY Times article was about 7% of Iraqi's getting new passports which should be distinguishable from actually fleeing.
 
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A_Wanderer said:
Can you cite a source for the "quarter of the middle class" fleeing the country claim. The NY Times article was about 7% of Iraqi's getting new passports which should be distinguishable from actually fleeing.

Oops! I've just been busted for sloppy research! I can't prove those people have left, just that they have gotten new passports. I have a new passport, too, but I haven't left the U.S. The insurgency isn't going away anytime soon, however.
 
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