ABCNEWS: Bush Acknowledges Iraq 'Could Be' Like Vietnam...

[truthpusher]

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/149550print.asp

http://drudgereport.com/flash2.htm



ABCNEWS: Bush Acknowledges Iraq 'Could Be' Like Vietnam...
Wed Oct 18 2006 18:45:10 ET

Below is a portion of the transcript from ABC News' George Stephanopoulos' Interview with President George W. Bush:

CLIP

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's been a brutal month in Iraq.

BUSH: That's right.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yesterday, 11 Americans killed, another American killed today. On a day like that, what kind of reports do you get from the battlefield?

BUSH: Well, I get that report, that soldiers were killed...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Every casualty.

BUSH: Yeah, absolutely, I read every casualty, and it breaks my heart, because behind every casualty is somebody with tears in their eyes. Behind every casualty are families that will be mourning the loss of life for a lifetime. I think the hardest part of the presidency is to meet with families who've lost a loved one. //

STEPHANOPOULOS: Tom Friedman wrote in the New York Times this morning that what we might be seeing now is the Iraqi equivalent of the Tet offensive...

BUSH: Yeah.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... in Vietnam in 1968. Tony Snow this morning said he may be right.

BUSH: Mm-hmm.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you agree?

BUSH: He could be right. There's certainly a stepped up level of violence, and we're heading into an election. //

STEPHANOPOULOS: But what's your gut tell you?

BUSH: George, my gut tells me that they have all along been trying to inflict enough damage that we'd leave. And the leaders of Al Qaida have made that very clear.

link: http://drudgereport.com/flash2.htm

[blue cat]

1. Thanks for linking

but I would never visit drudge's website. Never have, never will.

[GoneOffShore]

2. I guess that means he won't be going over

again at Christmas.

[AlCzervik]

3. my gut tells me that Bush has no clue what the "Tet offensive" was

and if what he'd said about crying over casualty were true then he wouldn't be able to attend canned audience speeches and fund raisers because he'd be in tears all day.

[K8-EEE]

14. YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!

that's what I thought reading this...

[JoFerret]

23. heading into an election

THATS what HIS tears are about.
(The man is incapable of true empathy)

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

31. That was my first thought

On "Countdown" they were discussing the subject, wondering if it meant a shift in Bush's thinking. My thought was, he has no fucking clue what the Tet Offensive was (probably thinks its a sport metaphor).

[AlCzervik]

33. or he was thinking----

"hmm, are tits really offensive, i better ask Karl, maybe he did a focus group on that"

[smoogatz]

40. The standard wingnut line on Tet and Vietnam in general

is that Walter Cronkite lost the war, becuase he reported that parts of Saigon were burning during Tet. There was an American general who said, after that report, that Cronkite hadn't been telling the American people the whole story, because many parts of Saigon weren't actually on fire. It's the dead-on, exact same crap they're trying to sell now--that the media have undermined the people's will to fight the long war. The great irony is that Bush et al manifestly don't believe that particular line of bullshit themselves--they thought the public would crucify them if it went on longer than six months, at least according to "Frontline" last night.

[Hepburn]

36. You know,

if Chimp-Boy did know what the Tet Offensive was, it would only be in the context of something he friggin' avoided.

Gee, George...most of us have bee saying for a long time that Iraq is the new Vietnam. What the hell took you so long to get clued in?

[wtmusic]

4. Oh, it's al Qaeda again. THOSE boogeymen.

When they realized that the insurgents included everyone else...

[Ian David]

5. Iraq is not Vietnam. Bush has actually BEEN to Iraq. n/t

[htuttle]

6. Could someone please translate that concept into 'reason'?

It's this statement that has me all confusolated:

"He could be right. There's certainly a stepped up level of violence, and we're heading into an election."

What does a stepped up level of violence + "heading into an election" have to do with Iraq is like Vietnam? In particular the 'heading into an election' part. Where does that fit in? Is there some morsel of right wing mythology I've missed here, where somehow a US election had something to do with losing Vietnam?

[cui bono]

8. I was wondering the same thing. And this time it may work against him.

He's associating it with a negative this time.

[teach1st]

9. The Tet Offensive was seen as a propoganda victory...

...for NLF and is credited for helping cause LBJ to withdraw from seeking a second term.

[Brundle_Fly]

35. yeah, it's their new angle

the terrorists are adding new pressure, because of the congressional elections, as "terrorists" ... ahem, would of course want democrats in charge.

they've been playing with it and mentioning it for about a week, it'll be being screamed in 2 weeks.

[Ian David]

7. Honestly? I don't think Bush was paying attention to the question. n/t

[truthpusher]

10. what does he mean when he says 'we are heading into an election'?

[Doctor_J]

27. They left off the second half of the sentence

"So in between fundraisers I am visiting friendly media like you to try to make it look like I give a shit"

[gratuitous]

11. "What's your gut tell you?"

My gut, Mr. Stephanopolous, tells me that's one of the dumbest fucking questions I've ever read from an alleged reporter.

[truthisfreedom]

18. here, mr. president, could you hold this magic 8 ball for us?

tell us what it says, mr. president!

[Lisa]

29. and yet, Bush fell for it

BUSH: George, my gut tells me that they have all along been trying to inflict enough damage that we'd leave. And the leaders of Al Qaida have made that very clear.



Attention, everyone! The Gut has spoken!

[badgerpup]

44. That's an alarming image, you know.

Last time the Gut 'spoke', they had to clear the room, the stench was so bad...

Can you imagine that happening on camera?

***GUTSPEAK****BBBRAP****

(off camera guy, sounding strangled) PLEASE CLEAR THE BUIDLING IN A CALM AND ORDERLY MANNER!

Meanwhile, the shrub is laughing his ass off about his "Air Assault!"

[Lisa]

46. the sad thing is -- the gut makes more sense than he does!

Gut: "Grrrr!"
(translation: "I'm hungry.")

Gut: "Urrp!"
(translation: "Shouldn't have had that extra bean burrito at lunch!")

Gut: "Gurgle, gurgle, blup ..."
(translation: "I'm more stressed about all this stuff in Iraq than my owner is ... help, I don't want him dragging me over there again for another plastic turkey photo-op!")

There is actually a pic somewhere on DU, of Bush with his hand on his stomach .... presumably during the national anthem, since everyone else in the photo is in the hand-over-heart pose.

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

12. His gut? Colbert will be out of a job if W starts parodying himself!

I've heard that's where the truth lies, right there in your gut! Maybe * was listening to Colbert's speech at the WH Correspondents' Dinner after all!

:crazy:

[Bitwit1234]

13. Breaks his heart??

If he hadn't told those lies and invaded a neutral country 3000 Americans would still be alive plus the 650,000 Iraqis. the only think he is worried about is his reputation.

[rodeodance]

20. he has used that phase a lot. I watched the interview. I thought he was

uncomfortable. I do not recall seeing a smirk at all.

[ckramer]

15. wheeeeeee! Good morning Vietnam!

This is will be only outcome for a foreign invasion.

Not good at history, huh?

[C_U_L8R]

16. In his wildest dreams

too bad George.. you're gonna get grand prize for biggest national fuck-up

[rocktivity]

17. I acknowledged that exactly five years ago this month

Shortly after Bush said that the 9/11 attack had "bin Laden's fingerprints all over it," I wrote in one of my earliest DU posts: "If we don't put some thought into HOW we retaliate, we'll end up with a war that has VIET NAM's fingerprints all over it."

:headbang:
rocknation

[JoFerret]

25. You nailed it

Rock on.

[MichiganVote]

19. With McCain in office in 08' the bullshit will continue

Why don't we just inform the entire world that from here on out the US will always be at war...

Peace means nothing to Americans...not a GD thing.

[Yavin4]

21. Is This Some Kind of Call to His Dad To Get Him Out of It?

Just like he did for Vietnam?


Maybe Bush will go AWOL as president.

[maseman]

22. I can hear Shrub now

hee-hee...he said TIT offensive...heh-heh-heh

[Doctor_J]

24. Um, Smirk was able to get out of Nam

that's one big difference

[Doctor_J]

26. He wouldn't give 2 shits if there weren't an election in 3 weeks

what a pathetic excuse for a man. He reads daily casualty reports? BULLSHIT. I want someone to ask him impromtu to name 5 of the 2800 dead soldiers. Maybe that would put an end to these stupid every-six-months shows of a soul.

God, I hate that man.

[LibDemAlways]

30. He couldn't name a single one - except maybe Casey

Sheehan, but he'd probably get that wrong, too. "Uh, there's that one whose mother won't leave me alone. Can't think of his name right now. Hard work rememberin names."

[katinmn]

28. How the hell would he know?? He wasn't there.

He was drinking and cheerleading all the way through the Vietnam war.

[OhioChick]

32. Breaks his heart?

If so, then get our men and women the hell out of there! :mad:

[AngryOldDem]

51. Didn't know he had a heart to break

The man is about the most soulless human being I've ever seen. I have yet to detect any sincere, compassionate response out of him about this horror, because I don't think he's capable.

And, no, he won't bring them home because he's on a crusade and it's not finished yet.

[llmart]

34. What the hell does that cowardly chickenshit....

know about Viet Nam anyway? He had Daddy get him a cushy slot in the National Guard and he couldn't even stand up to that.

[The Count]

37. Damage control for the "comma" statements - so artificial....

So, it's like Vietnam because of the violence&election combination?
Dayum!

"I think the hardest part of the presidency is to meet with families who've lost a loved one."
So, W, when are you gonna get around to the hard stuff then?
"Don't sell it on e-bay now"

[buddysmellgood]

38. Check yer gut. There are more nerve endings in your gut than anywhere

else in your body. I know what you're saying. You're saying that's not true. But that's because you looked it up in a book. It's true because it feels true. You have to look it up in your gut.
Thanks to Colbert

[Straight Shooter]

39. Does this mean that God lives in bush's gut?

Will wonders never cease. :eyes:

[The Animator]

41. How the Fuck would he know what Viet Nam was like?

[AnneD]

48. Especially...

since he missed that party. POS

[bamacrat]

42. How long will Al-Qieda be the reason.

Obviously for the next two years, I can't imagine what America will be like in 10 years. I'll be 33, wtf.

[Thor_MN]

43. Viet Nam War, he abandoned his responsibilities to screw around

with an election campaign.

Iraq "War", he is abandoning his responsibilities to screw around with election campaigns.

Damn, he's right for the first time in his life...

[truthpusher]

45. .

[hippiechick]

47. How would he know ? He never got near Viet Nam!

And Lord knows he wasn't exactly sober during the 60's & 70's to understand any news reports he may have had access to ...

:spank:

[Solly Mack]

49. hmmm....wonder what they are up to

"they" being those that shape the manufactured reality of the Bush Regime

that's a very public shift for Bush to make....and I'm not thinkong it's an accident...so just where are they going with this new talking point...

[MotorCityMan]

50. MotorCityMan Acknowledges...

that * 'could be' like the poorest excuse for a human being that has every lived in the whole history of the universe....

[against all enemies]

52. Looks like Texas is going to get another pilot.