Bush admits ‘I was unprepared for war.’
By on Dec 1st, 2008 at 11:25 am
Bush admits ‘I was unprepared for war.’
In an interview with ABC News that will air tonight, President Bush admits that he was unprepared to be Commander-in-Chief when he was elected:
“I think I was unprepared for war,” Bush told ABC News’ Charlie Gibson in an interview airing today on “World News.” “In other words, I didn’t campaign and say, ‘Please vote for me, I’ll be able to handle an attack,’” he said. “In other words, I didn’t anticipate war. Presidents — one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.”
In 2004, Bush similarly told author Bob Woodward that he “was not on point” prior to 9/11. “I didn’t feel that sense of urgency, and my blood was not nearly as boiling.”
Update Later in the interview, Bush laments, "[T]he biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq...I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess."
Update Bush also said, "I'm sure some people voted for Obama because of me."
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Heh. The understatement of the century there…
December 1st, 2008 at 11:27 am“Presidents — one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.”
More profundity from the Knucklehead. Of course the unexpected never happened earlier in US history! Geez!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:29 amBut God, how I DO LOVE being a’war president’, heh, heh. George Wanker Bush
December 1st, 2008 at 11:30 am“In other words, I didn’t anticipate war. Presidents — one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen.”
– - Yeah, the unexpected is a modern phenomena.
Cripes.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:33 amMaybe Ricky Warren can add the “Global Understatement Millennium Prize,” or G.U.M.P.
George, any admission now is only confirmation, not revelation.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:35 amInarticulate, as usual. No remorse. No candid statements. No apologies. He should just go away, as quickly as possible.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:36 amHe’s like those people who sign up for the military for the benefits, and then are upset when a war breaks out and they actually have to serve for real.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:36 amPoor George…the pathetic, hand-wringing victim of his own incompetence.
“Don’t be mad at me everyone, I didn’t mean it, I’m just a pitiful unprepared puppet, please don’t hate me, pleeeeeze?”
December 1st, 2008 at 11:36 amWait!! Didn’t Chimpy say “I’m the war president”? You don’t suppose Chimpy lied to us about that do you? Remember, he’s the clown who stated on film that when he makes decisions “I make decisions with war on my mind.”
This is just the latest outburst in what will soon become a daily deluge of history revision 101 from the Chimp abomination.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:36 amBush was unprepared to wipe his own ass, for the love of FU(k!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:37 amEven on the Constitution.
The Bushistas were the butts of mockery and humiliation before the ‘pearl harbor’ event that solidified their power.
There were, as you may recall, ‘death watches’ on which highly placed cabinet member would have to fall on her or his sword to placate the public.
Let’s see if I can run this down:
He wasn’t prepared for college (Yale or Harvard)
He wasn’t prepared for the Texas Air Nat’l Guard
He wasn’t prepared to run Arbusto Energy
He wasn’t prepared to run the Texas Rangers
He wasn’t prepared to be Governor of Texas
He wasn’t prepared to be the War Presnit
He wasn’t prepared for the chewing and swallowing of a pretzel
He HAS however been preparing for some time now to flee to Parguay and hide from war crimes tribunals directly after January 20th 2009!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:43 amHe’s right it wasn’t him that was going to run the Govenment he was just sitting in the seat and holding the title. Bush skipped out of serving in Military because he was a drunk and scared so I really don’t see why anyone expected him to be any different. He’s still and alcoholic and drug user as he show during the Peru Summit as he was making a complete fool of himself while drunk. Most of his drunken moments the Media laughed off as a joke after being paid to lie. Bush never knew what was going on in the USA as he said he had no idea of the Katrina Storm or even the NY Ports were being sold. You can’t answer questions when you don’t know what happening. Now Karl Rove and Dick Cheney knew everything that let you know who was running the White House. Look Gonzo said 72 times under oath he didn’t know as he was holding the title and Karl/Dick were running the Attorney General Office. What’s funny is now Americans are making demands on Obama while for 8 years never asking Bush/Cheney one question.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:46 amI was all to set to say what A Patriot Acting said but he did it better than ever I could
December 1st, 2008 at 11:48 amI hope the Bush family suffer! Suffering would be justice for this LIER, this WAR CRIMINAL, this immoral animal and his spoilled family of parasites!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:48 amWhat an IDIOT! He needs to be tried for war crimes and see if that makes his blood boil.
And who can believe a word he says. Of course he was prepared for 9/11. I repeat, what a fargin’ IDIOT.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:48 amBut he was “prepared” to use any excuse to start one in Iraq.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:49 amMaybe, if the Chimperor had paid attention to the Aug. 6, 2001 PDB he might not have been quite so unprepared.
Alfred North Whitehead – “It is the business of the future to be dangerous.”
December 1st, 2008 at 11:49 amBush is a war criminal. His genocidal wars against Islam will one day be avenged. He will be arrested and put on trial.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:51 amWe can only hope, Omar.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:53 amDon’t forget to put all the oil company execs in the docket with him.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:54 am“In other words, I didn’t anticipate war.”
Well, maybe if you and your ilk weren’t so damned determined to distance yourself from the previous administration, you’d have payed attention to Clinton, Richard Clarke, and the warning about an imminent attack!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:56 amMucking foron!
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED!!!
YOU SHOULD HAVE ANTICIPATED!!!
No one could have anticipated that the United States would expect the President to act Presidential….
December 1st, 2008 at 11:56 amAnd by the way, I challenge any antagonists who said it was Clinton’s fault, to defend Bush now!!!
After all, he didn’t anticipate being attacked, even after the first Trade Center attack, Oklahoma City bombing, and Columbine.
Mucking foron!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:58 amShould have used Preparation H.W.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:59 amNote to self: I still don’t know what’s going on.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:59 amGeorge W. Bush
Until the system is changed and returned to what our founding fathers intended (no lobbyists, citizens participating in the process of government etc, etc), we will be dealing with this amoral psychosis for long after the village idiot is returned to his home.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:00 pmThis ranks low on my W-ometer for stupid things coming out of the mouth of W. Who is ever prepared for war? I remember people complaining how Gore would have treated 9/11 like a police action, would only that were true.
M
December 1st, 2008 at 12:03 pmAfter 8 years, he finally says something honest.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:03 pmHe has been a complete failure at everything he has ever tried to do. No wonder he is the Republican icon.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:04 pmNo Sh!t!!
Thanks Sir, for sending (US) into a war YOU weren’t prepared for (WE) truly appreciate that. Its good to know that all of that chest-bumping, saber-rattling, and tough talk was all a war strategy, it really helped (US) out during (OUR) 3-4-5-6-7 tours of duty. (OUR) Soldiers who were injured, maimed, and killed will be glad to hear that YOU were unprepared.
All of you who backed this war should lose a loved in the next one. This may sound harsh, (and its meant to be) especially given some of the harsh language thrown at (US) who were against it, even those of (US) who wear the uniform. But if you were a cheerleader for this war, your loved ones should suit up for the next one, not go shopping and spend your tax cut money, get your limbs blown off, lose an eye, give your life, you know sacrifice for a man that was “unprepared” or you could be like his mom and so many other moms and dads out there and not worry your “beautiful” minds on things like that.
RIP
SGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
And to all of the fallen and injured who were prepared even though or leaders (so-called) were/are not.
I don’t know how some of you sleep at night, but yours is coming.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:12 pmCurlew Says:
Wait!! Didn’t Chimpy say “I’m the war president”? You don’t suppose Chimpy lied to us about that do you? Remember, he’s the clown who stated on film that when he makes decisions “I make decisions with war on my mind.”
This is just the latest outburst in what will soon become a daily deluge of history revision 101 from the Chimp abomination.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
EXACTLY, he is lying, he WANTED to be a War Preznit, from day one. He couldnt WAIT to send other peoples kids off to die in a war even though he was terrified of going to war himself. I think in his substandard brain this kind of makes up for him being afraid to go to war then. He can send OTHERS off to go to war NOW. Historical revision. He was ALWAYS going to war as soon as he could
December 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pm“It was an interesting day.”—President Bush, recalling 9/11 [White House, 1/5/02]
December 1st, 2008 at 12:14 pmEugeneDebs said: “EXACTLY, he is lying, he WANTED to be a War Preznit, from day one.”
Actually from 2 years before day one:
“Houston: Two years before the September 11 attacks, presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer, who held many conversations with then-Texas Governor Bush in preparation for a planned autobiography.
“He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999,” said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. “It was on his mind. He said to me: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He said, ‘If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.”
http://www.gnn.tv/articles/article.php?id=761
December 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pmThere was nothing about his war that he and other criminals did not know about. It was planed from day one.
Bottom line: Profiteering
Bush/Cheney -Nuremburg ‘09
December 1st, 2008 at 12:28 pmmy blood was not nearly as boiling
Better to have the brain working than the blood boiling.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:34 pmSo, he wasn’t prepared to be the Commander-in-Chief .
December 1st, 2008 at 12:50 pmThat is partially due to the fact that his uncle dick got 9-11 on their happy hour menu a little too quickly.
So, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Pearle, Wolfowitz, Hadley, Abrams, Libby, ect. all failed to tell Bush that they had been planning another war in the Middle Est since 1992? Perhaps, when these neocon warmongers drafted Bush to run for President, he should have taken the time to check out the website of the Project for a New American Century. Then he would have known what he was in for.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:52 pmChuck Feney Says:
Absolutly, that is it exactly. The man is just a liar. I think he gets up in the morning and lies about what he wants for breakfast just to get ready for the day.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:00 pmHow quaint. Bush is unprepared for everything.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pmWell, DUH!!
December 1st, 2008 at 1:22 pm“Bush admits ‘I was unprepared for war.”
Blame this on the booze and blow. Unprepared for the war? Earth to the clown President: It was a invasion on false pretenses, idiot, not a war! The only thing he will be preparing for is to leave the White House for good come January 20th.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm“Bush admits that he was unprepared to be Commander-in-Chief”
Well, DUH!!!
And he still isn’t prepared.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:33 pmIt’s kind of difficult to be prepared for your job when you hand over your job to a shadow government.
This guy has been clueless his entire life.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:34 pmLet’s get one thing straight. Some people might be inclined to interpret this as an apology or an admission of poor judgment, when in fact it’s nothing of the kind — all he’s done is state the blatantly obvious. Strictly speaking, neither Bush nor Gore were prepared for war because the the majority of American voters were not of the opinion that the country was officially at war — at least at the time, trying to turn a potential attack into a campaign issue would probably have struck most people as being needlessly alarmist and paranoid. What Bush still clearly fails to realize is that it simply isn’t possible for a President to be perfectly prepared for every eventuality, which a bit too much to expect from even the most intelligent of human beings (which Bush all too clearly is not) — but when an unforeseen event occurs, it’s how the President chooses to respond and the level of wisdom (or lack thereof) in the response which makes all the difference. In any case, the fact that Bush did not campaign on his ability to deal with a possible attack still does nothing to excuse the fact that he reportedly had at least some prior warning of a terrorist attack using planes and chose to dismiss it.
While the phrase “expect the unexpected” might have a grain or two of truth in it, it’s unrealistic for the most part — even though at least some of the Bush administration policies since 9-11 seem to have been enacted in a misguided attempt to eliminate even the slightest potential of recurrence, regardless of the cost to civil liberties. However, what Bush clearly still fails to understand is that the problems resulting from the War In Iraq have not come into being because Bush was prepared for war — but because his response was flawed (and there are, of course, some people who believe that the Bush administration deliberately chose to ignore warnings of a possible attack so that they could turn the results to their own advantage).
December 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pmFor the sake of expediency, W should only mention what in his entire life he has been prepared for.
crickets…..
December 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pmBush was unprepared for real war.
The PNACers gave him a set of rose colored glasses and told him that we will be greeted as liberators. He’ll be viewed as a great war president. It’ll be a cakewalk just like his daddy’s war. We’ll get that Iraqi oil money.
Bush bought into all of those lies.
Damn puppet.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:58 pm“I think I was unprepared for war,” Bush told ABC News’
Boy, if anyone believes that b.s., I have a lot of prime acreage just south of New Orleans I’d like to sell them.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pmThere is no end to the lying streak of this p.o.s.
The only good word to describe this character is “sleazy.”
Bush also said, “I’m sure some people voted for Obama because of me.”
I guess he’s not totally clueless after all…
December 1st, 2008 at 3:14 pmBush also said, “I’m sure some people voted for Obama because of me.”
Aw, crap, Chimpy – way to state the frikkin’ OBVIOUS!!! Geesh.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:16 pmThe best part of Dumbya got shot into the sheets when he was conceived. The deaths of 4,000+ brave troops & hundreds of thousand Iraq citizens are responsible for him to answer for someday for being so “unprepared”.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:24 pm“I was unprepared for war… but I started one anyway.”
December 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pmWhen you steal an election you are unprepared and unfit to rule. Bush forced himself upon us and the world. The outcome of his failed legacy speaks louder than words : TOTAL ABSOLUTE FAILURE!
December 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pm“Bush also said, ‘I’m sure some people voted for Obama because of me.’ ”
My god, the clown President finally found his brain in the closet.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:56 pmUnprepared? That’s the understatement of the century.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:59 pmThere was not much Bush WAS prepared for — except maybe making a fool of himself.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:50 pmWhat goes beyond the Peter Principle?
December 1st, 2008 at 5:51 pmBush has surely set a new standard.
WAR CRIMINAL! HAGUE 2009!!!!
December 1st, 2008 at 6:55 pmI’m with bratboy 50#
Bush opens his mouth to lie! Just chek the footage on the pre-war and see what a criminal this animal is!
December 1st, 2008 at 6:59 pmBush was–and still is–unprepared to manage a convenience store, much less the world’s most powerful nation. But it’s not just Bush; virtually the entire conservative Christian community, and its subsidiary Republican party, gleefully signed on to all aspects of Bush’s agenda. The failure is collective, those responsible are unrepentant and shameless, and the price of their folly will be high and long-lasting.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:19 pmExcuse me?? Unprepared?? You were totally prepared. You wish the intelligence had been better?? It was the intelligence you hand picked from the garden of seeds you planted. You and your bastard administration were, sadly fully prepared for this war. You got everything you wanted out of it, too. You stole oil. Your friends at Blackwater, Khaki and Halliburton made a killing (Literally). You did what you do best, and that is create disaster..and you loved every minute of it, too. You, and your like are complete sociopaths and this is your life’s endeavor bought wholesale and you revel in it. So don’t tell us you were unprepared for war. No… sadly, it was just our troops that were unprepared. It was the Iraqui people, who were unprepared. The world was not prepared for your like. Bush… he never stops finding new ways to peak at disgusting.. Please.. lock his criminal ass up for good.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:42 pmAll the evidence (like the Downing Street Memo and retaliation against anyone who told the truth) shows their plan was the invasion and occupation of Iraq because they wanted to control that part of the world. The “intelligence” was extremely slim and fabricated. Please stop talking about flaws and failures. The 935 recorded lies got you exactly what you insisted on! You just thought it would be a cakewalk and you would be greeted as liberators. Proves you don’t know much about the world.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 amIn this interview he once again said “we had to invade because Saddam refused to let the inspectors back in”. This is a huge DELUSION he has! Saddam never kicked the inspectors out (we did because we wanted to bomb again) and he most certainly DID allow them back in. They looked everywhere and could find nothing–proving Iraq had no WMD in late 2002 and early 2003. The inspectors begged the White House to tell them where to look (since they were so sure they were there) and the White House ordered them out so they could begin the war. Iraq DID abide by UN resolutions by allowing the inspectors in, having NO WMD, and accounting for past WMD (about 20,000 pages that the White House dismissed in two seconds). At the time we invaded, Anniston Alabama had 20,000 TONS of sarin, vx, mustard, and nerve agents and 70,000 rockets to deliver them. Read the Downing Street Memo again. It said forget the intelligence, we are invading. Joe Wilson was telling the truth: Bush lied in the 2003 SOTU. Valerie Plame was heading a group in the CIA working on non-proliferation of WMD in Iraq and Iran. Her ouster destroyed that group!
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 amKeith Says:
You got to give it to rightwingnuts. They never stop. They are STILL trying to sell us that we were just about to win in Vietnam until we pulled out. The VC were just about to give up when we came home instead. Get ready for this zombie meme it isnt going anywhere. We will be hearing it for decades and since it is good propaganda there will be no way to drive a stake through its heart. No matter how often you tell them: WHAT do you think I was born yesterday or cant REMEMBER 2003? They will slink off but will try to run it up the flagpole again in a few days. Within a few years I expect about 25 to 30% of Americans to believe this and that you will hear it repeated to you as if reality had no meaning. They WILL put real effort and resources into trying to rehabilitate both W and this war because they wont want Americans to get leary of wars again like we did after Vietnam. Remember they have NO SHAME. Truth, facts and reality mean NOTHING to them so get ready to hear that talking point for YEARS.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:37 am