Quote of the week. Bush, in an Oval Office interview with Katie Couric: “The hardest part of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror….” (video and transcript)

  • Why should that be so tough? Sure, Iraq didn’t have WMD, wasn’t harboring terrorists, and had nothing to do with 9/11, but…. OK, maybe it should be kind of tough.

    • Partial transcript:

    COURIC: You have said we can’t cut and run on more than one occasion. We have to stay until we win. Otherwise, we’ll be fighting the terrorists here at home on our own streets. So what do you mean exactly by that, Mr. President?

    BUSH: Well, I mean that a defeat in Iraq will embolden the enemy and will provide the enemy ? more opportunity to train, plan, to attack us. That’s what I mean. There ? it’s ? you know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror. I believe it. As I told you, Osama bin Laden believes it. But the American people ? have gotta understand that a defeat in Iraq ? in other words, if this government there fails – the terrorists will be emboldened, the radicals will topple moderate governments.

    I’m worried, Katie, strongly worried about a world if we ? if ? if we lose, you know, our confidence and don’t help ? defeat this ideology, I’m worried that 50 years from now they’ll look back and say, “How come ? Bush and everybody else didn’t see the fact that these ? this group of people would use oil to affect our economy?”

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