Bush v. Thomas: Lost in Translation

22 March 2006 |permalink | email article

Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, has never minced words in asking presidents tough questions since John F. Kennedy. But she once called George W. Bush the worst president in U.S. history and was not called on at a news conference for over three years.

On Tuesday, in his macho ìbring ëem onî campaign to convince Americans that the unpopular war in Iraq is worth fighting, the president joked with Thomas and granted her a question.

Suggesting that every reason heís given has turned out not to be true, Thomas asked: ìWhy did you really want to go the war?

Bush said: ìI didnít want war.î

Thomas interrupted twice before he replied ìno president wants war,î

Bush said his rationale for the defense of the country changed after 9/11: ìWhen we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American peopleÖ.make sure that we didnít allow people to provide safe haven to an enemyÖ. thatís why I went into Iraq.î

Thomas: ìThey didnít do anything to you, or to our country.î

Bush: ìExcuse me for a second. They did. The Taliban provided safe haven for Al Qaeda. Thatís where Al Qaeda trainedÖ.î

Thomas: ìIím talking about IraqÖî

Bush: ìHelen, excuse me. Thatís where ñ Afghanistan provided safe haven for Al QaedaÖ.thatís where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.î He explained that he also saw a threat in Iraq, which he hoped to solve diplomatically.

Thomas: Ögo the warÖî

Bush: Since Saddam Hussein did not get the message of the world, ìI had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did and the world is safer.î

Any objective analysis of this exchange suggests a stunning presidential non sequitur. Thomas pressed him on Iraq. His bizarre, amnesia-like response focused on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan where the real problem was and is ñ not on Iraq as the rationale for a war the administration has since admitted lacked any connection. Bush said his successors would decide when to remove all American troops from harmís way. It absolves him of responsibility for the end game, exposes the incompetence of a failed expedition and confirms why Americans donít trust him.

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