Here's the most interesting slice that most likely won't the attention it deserves in the MSM:
Q Let me read to you what Senator Kennedy, liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, and a long-time opponent of the war said on the third anniversary. Here's part of his statement. He said:
"It is clearer than ever that Iraq was a war we never should have fought. The administration has been dangerously incompetent. And its Iraq policy is not worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. Yet President Bush continues to see the war through the same rose-colored glasses he has always used. He assures the American people we are winning, while Iraq's future and the lives of our troops hangs so perilously on the precipice of a new disaster."
Dangerously incompetent is what he is saying. I want to give you a chance to respond.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I would not look to Ted Kennedy for guidance and leadership on how we ought to manage national security, Bob. I think what Senator Kennedy reflects is sort of the pre-9/11 mentality about how we ought to deal with the world and that part of the world.
We used to operate on the assumption before 9/11 that a criminal attack -- a terrorist attack was a criminal act, a law enforcement problem. We were hit repeatedly in the '90s and never responded effectively, and the terrorists came to believe not only could they strike us with impunity, but if they hit us hard enough, they could change our policy, because they did in Beirut in 1983, or Mogadishu in 1993.
We changed all that on 9/11. After they hit us and killed 3,000 of our people here at home, we said, enough is enough. We're going to aggressively go after them. We'll go after the terrorists wherever we find them. We'll go after those states that sponsor terror. We'll go after people that can provide them with weapons of mass destruction. We'll use our intelligence and our military services very aggressively. And we have.
We did in Afghanistan. We've done it in Pakistan. We're working with the Paks. We captured or killed hundreds of al Qaeda. We've done it in Saudi Arabia. And obviously, we're doing it now in Iraq. That kind of aggressive forward-leaning strategy is one of the main reasons we haven't been struck again since 9/11 because we've taken the fight to them.
Senator Kennedy's approach would be pack your bags and go home; retreat behind your oceans and assume you can be safe. But we learned on 9/11 that, in fact, what's going on 10,000 miles away in a place like Afghanistan, or Iraq can have a direct impact here in the United States when we lost 3,000 people that morning. And we know now that the biggest threat that we face of all isn't just another 9/11, it's a 9/11 where the terrorists have something like nuclear weapons, or a deadly biological agent to use against us.
The Iraq situation has to be viewed within the broader context of the global war on terror. It is a global conflict. You can't look just at Iraq and make decisions there with respect to how that's going to come out without having major consequences for everything that's going on. And I think we are going to succeed in Iraq. I think the evidence is overwhelming. I think Ted Kennedy has been wrong from the very beginning. He's the last man I'd go to for guidance in terms of how we should conduct U.S. national security policy.
Q Well, let me ask you about this charge of incompetence because we hear that not just about Iraq, but we hear it more and being raised sometimes by members of your own party on a variety of issues -- the bumbling after Katrina, the Harriet Miers nomination, the failure to see the political implications of the Dubai ports deal. Some people are even saying you need a staff shake-up over at the White House, Mr. Vice President.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Bob, you know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of 30 years ago when I was Jerry Ford's chief of staff and you were the CBS correspondent covering the White House.
Q That's right.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We had the same kind of stories then, the same kinds of controversy. Administrations go through peaks and valleys. It's a tough business that we're involved in. And when you're down in the polls, you're going to take shots that you don't deserve. And when you're up in the polls, you're probably going to get praise you don't deserve. So I don't think we can pay any attention to that kind of thing.
The President has got a job to do. I've worked very closely now with this man for over five years. He's a superb leader. He's tough. He's decisive. He's willing to take tough decisions. He ignores the background noise that's out there in the polls that are taken on a daily basis. He's doing a superb job. He's got great people around him. And I simply don't give credence to those kind of comments.
Q But many people say that they're just worn out. And we all know whether you like him or don't like him, respect him or don't respect him, people who work at the White House work very long hours. They work very, very hard. Is it possible that maybe they're just suffering a little fatigue here, and it would be good to bring some people?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we're always -- there actually -- there has been a fair amount of change and movement if you look at -- been a lot of changes in the Cabinet in the second term. But we got some very good talented people there. But the President will make decisions when he wants to move people around and make those kinds of choices, that's really up to him. But I think the notion that somehow the staff is exhausted, yes, these are tough jobs. No question about it. But we've got some very good, very able, very talented folks who are devoted to the President, devoted to trying to do what's right for the country, and I think that -- I think the country has been well served by this President and by the --
Q You don't see any shake-up coming?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I'm not in the business of making predictions. The President hasn't indicated he plans to make any changes. If he does and when he does, I'm sure he'll announce it.
1 comment:
Oh, come on, Dick! Bush is a much bigger dunce than Gerry Ford! I must admit it's true, though. Bush does conjure up images of Ford. Both brilliant, brilliant fellas...
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