Bush's conference on 4/13/04

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What do you think of the answers President Bush gave reporters on Iraq and 9/11?

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), April 14, 2004

Answers

Do you think he is not afraid to have more people killed to pacify the country of Iraq?

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), April 14, 2004.

Bush's words were quite clear: We are at war.

When a country is at war, soldiers will be lost; injured or killed. That's nothing new. It doesn't make Bush guilty of killing them, the enemy kills them.

It seemed to me every question directed at the President by these ''reporters'' (accusers is the better word) had nothing productive or useful to say. Asking the Commander- in-Chief whether he has ''anything to apologise for'', or what his ''mistakes'' were; is obnoxious. These were leading questions; nothing but indirect accusations. He was more than patient with these dishonest reporters. They expected him to spin; but he didn't do them that favor; he just answered honestly. I'm proud of our President. The war will go on. But he spoke very forcefully and truthfully: we all grieve for the fallen; nevertheless we won't back away from this war on terror. If we do, they would have all died in vain.

-- eugene c. chavez (loschavez@pacbell.net), April 14, 2004.


Well said, Eugene. The press was looking for a sound bite to use against the President, something that would embarass him. He was very guarded in his responses knowing full-well their intent. And he didn't give it to them, to his credit. He went into the lions den and denied the lion the prize.

Dave

-- non-Catholic Christian (no@spam.com), April 14, 2004.


Chutzpah 95 Credibility 0

Nov. 2, Bush = Texas Toast

-- Shelby (showmestate@att.worldnet.net), April 14, 2004.


November 2, around 10PM; John Freakin Kerry to telephone W and congratulate him on his re-election; don't forget I toilet U. /

-- eugene c. chavez (loschavez@pacbell.net), April 14, 2004.


Shelby,

Credibility is in the eyes of the beholder, indeed. Most of us don't believe a word Kerry says. Everything from his recent botox denials to his fake purple hearts from 30 years ago are the product of lies. Like Clinton, if you speak the language of lies and deceit in simple matters, what can we expect when it gets serious. Character matters, especially in the Presidency. Clinton was so busy messing around with Monica, that he allowed the terrorists to infiltrate our nation and set-up 9/11. If you want to return to those days, then fine, vote for Kerry. Personally, whether or not you agree with individual decisions, I prefer President Bush and his strength of character any day. If you're Catholic, I would have thought that you'd feel obligated to pray for George Bush to be re- elected based on abortion alone. Not only is it a mortal sin to have an abortion, it's also a sin to vote for officials who make the murder of unborn babies legal and accessible.

Dave

-- non-Catholic Christian (no@spam.com), April 15, 2004.


dave,

before you go picking on us, you might take note of the fact that among catholics here, kerry isnt exactly popular...

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), April 15, 2004.


Hi Paul,

My comment was intended as a compliment to the Catholic pro-life position and pointing out to Shelby that her support for Kerry didn't exactly line up with her church's teachings. I trust and respect your pro-life stance, Paul. No criticism towards you or anyone else on this forum was intended. Sorry if I didn't phrase things clearly.

Dave

-- non-Catholic Christian (no@spam.com), April 15, 2004.


Over at LRC blog, Jeffrey Tucker is kind enough to round up some of the gems from the prez's Q & occasionally A session last night. I'll just go through a few with my knee-jerk ripostes in italics:

*They're [Iraqis] not happy they're occupied. I wouldn't be happy if I were occupied either. Another reason to keep Dick Cheney on staff, no?

*I want to know why we haven't found a weapon yet. Hey, car bombs, mines, RPGs, and Kalashnikovs are weapons, too, and "we" have found plenty of those--right in "our" faces.

*One of my hardest parts of my job is to console the family members who have lost their life. Bush Iraq military funeral attendance count: 0.

*This is a war against people who have no guilt in killing innocent people. That's what they're willing to do. No comment; just a gaping jaw.

*I have directed our military commanders to make every preparation to use decisive force, if necessary, to maintain order and to protect our troops. Maintain, v.: To keep up or carry on; continue; to keep in an existing state; preserve or retain; to keep in a condition of good repair or efficiency.

*There's a terror still in the soul of some of the people in Iraq; they're worried about getting killed, and, therefore, they're not going to talk [about the location of WMD]. Tell us more of these people who are surely in U.S. custody (or could be) and whom they're afraid of being killed by.

*My job as the President is to lead this nation into making the world a better place. And that's exactly what we're doing. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Nope, nothing about saving the world. Maybe he thinks he's Bono or Miss America.

-- Roger Lambalund (gem@hotmail.com), April 15, 2004.


REJECT THE CULTURE OF DEATH!

152 Texas executions 686 dead American troops 103 dead coalition troops 5,000+ dead Iraqi civilians

George W. Bush: Protecting Life with one hand, killing with the other!

GEORGE W. BUSH + NOVEMBER 2 = TEXAS TOAST

Enjoy!

-- Shelby (showmestate@att.worldnet.net), April 15, 2004.



Eugene,

Your post is so true and so excellent! Thank you for sharing your views with the forum.

I am so proud of President Bush for standing his ground. Those reporters were horrible! I am also proud of Condoleeza Rice for standing her ground with the 9/11 Commission. She is smart, poised, self-confident and graceful in her speech. It is obvious to me and, I think to many others, that the 9/11 Commission has a political agenda.

May God watch over President Bush, his advisors, and our military.

I don't remember anyone asking President Clinton to apologize when the WTC was attacked the first time. ('93?) That was a wake-up call. I don't hear anyone asking the Immigration Department to apologize for letting these terrorists come into this country and stay here with expired visas or those who were here on student visas and never attended university. I don't hear anyone asking the flight schools to apologize for letting these terrorists take flight lessons. To blame one man for the attack of 9/11 is absurd, absolutely absurd.

I don't remember anyone asking President Clinton to apologize for lying under oath to the American People.

It truly amazes me how liberals will accept a lying deceitful man and his immoral behavior as being okay. Don't they know that if a man lies to his wife and family he will lie to anyone, and he has. God only knows what other lies he told while in the White House.

President Bush is not Catholic, but he knows the Lord and I pray that the Lord will continue to guide him and give him the gift of wisdom. May President Bush listen to God's voice and not his own. Amen

Our Lady of Mental Peace, please pray and intercede for our military in Iraq, may they feel our prayers and the presence of Our Lord, Jesus with them at all times. Amen

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), April 15, 2004.


Shelby wants us to reject the culture of death, and so do we. But then lists misleading numbers: "152 Texas executions 686 dead American troops 103 dead coalition troops 5,000+ dead Iraqi civilians "

152 texas executions, but the people executed killed more than 152 innocent people!

686 American troops: well, not the number of American troops who have died in battle is not that high, but they have died defending your right to post insults here.

5,000+ Iraqi civilians. Well, not, if you are only counting the civilians. In that case, it would be much, much less. Maybe 5,000 Iraqi terrorists, army and militia is what you meant.

If you going to quote numbers, be accurate.

-bill

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 15, 2004.


The Right War for the Right Reasons



-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 15, 2004.


Actually much more. Not, 5000, but perhaps around 10000 civilians - innocent lives. Hard to accept for some, some just don't care, and some just won't accept.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,976392,00.html

-- Abraham T (lijothengil@yahoo.com), April 15, 2004.


Abraham,

You are asking the wrong question though, the real question is: "how many Iraquis are still alive who would have been killed under Saddam's regime had he remained in power?

Overall, the Iraqui people are better off now than before. If less people die, isn't that a good thing?

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), April 15, 2004.



The 'sources' on http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ are highly suspect and lean towards sensationalism

And the guardian article simply repeats the claims at iraq body count.

Just goes to prove, you can spin numbers any way you wish, if you have a political agenda. Read the articles carefully, and you will see that they mix, 'independent' sources with sources that have a reason to inflate the numbers.

Interesting you didn't talk about civilians being used as human shields by the enemy... wonder why? ... and then we have the 'humain' kidnapping, tourture and mutilation of civilians by the enemy... you didn't bring that up... I wonder why?

Anyway, I will grant you that civilians die in wars. Even this one, although compared to what happened in previous wars, and wars being run by other countries, the Iraqi war must be one of the most humain on record.

-bill

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 15, 2004.


I do believe that some of the questions posed to President Bush had no merit. 9/11/01 was meant to hsappen no matter who was the president.

They tried first with Clinton in 1993.

No one ever imagined these suicides would be like the Japanese Kamikazes of WWII(1941-45).

I also feel Saddam had to be dealt with. The Kurds, The Shia's, the other Sunni opposition groups had failed to topple him.

The number of casualties have been lower now because of the technology which favors the United States.

My only regret in the answers the President gave was no timetable in US occupationof Iraq. Congress is required to authorize war for a certain period. This time table has not yet beendebated in Congress.

Shelby's numbers are on the money when it comes to US soldiers and allies killed.

I have former students in Iraq and Afghanistan. From what I can glimpse from their stories, body counts (casualties) the United States has sustained well over 5000 casualties. They are told not to report injured personnel. Some units experience 50% casualty rates yet 3-7% death rates.

I am told even children are shooting against US soldiers.

The War was against Saddam. He is out. I believe is about time the United States has a timeline not only for transferring real power to the opposition but also for ending the occupation. No more than 5000 US soldiers should remain in Iraq after January 2006.

As for Iraqi deaths and wounded I believe is well over 30,000 by now.

My biggest concern is turning tall the Shias against the United States soldiers stationed there.

The Christian Yahwist

The Man of Yahweh

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), April 15, 2004.


I wrote trasfer of power to the oppsosition. That is incorrect. I meant to say to the iraqi people. These includes supporters of the US as well as independants.

The US should promote democracy now.

The Christian Yahwist

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), April 15, 2004.


End of the beginning of the war on terror. An interesting editorial in the Telegraph.



-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 15, 2004.


What helps, Bill, is that Mr. Sistani, the most imortant Ayatollah there has not yet decided to engage the US. He has so far been more conciliatory than Sadr. Casualties in Iraq The Human Cost of Occupation Edited by Mike Ewens

American Casualties in Iraq Date Total In Combat Since May 1st (the list) 547 382 Since war began: 686 494 Since Capture of Saddam: 225 186 Total wounded: 3732 Lastest Fatality April 13th, 2004

Taken from this site: Anti-War

The Christian Yahwist

The Christian Yahwist

Others Other Coalition Troops 103 US Military Deaths - Afghanistan 104 Iraqi Body Count IBC Iraqi Military (independent estimate) 4,895 to 6,370 #

As to body counts reported on the media.

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), April 15, 2004.


I did a little bit of research into the guys behind www.iraqbodycount.net, they are anti-war activists who were also against the war in Afganistan. The site founder, Hamit Dardagan, founded the site from Turkey and writes for Counterpunch.

The site was pretty much discredited during the initial phases of the Iraq war for paying a little too much attention to Bagdad Bob.



-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), April 15, 2004.


I get mine from asking my former students or friends who come to visit.

The Christian Yahwist

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), April 15, 2004.


Iraq war is going great guns, it's media hipe all the bad news. I dont beleive no bad news, the bodies from enemas not U S A. Viva Bush.

-- Eltonto (Eltonto@teladetontos.com), April 15, 2004.

Every day I pray for a miracle of peace - a miracle that can only come from God so our troops can come home and that will take a miracle.

I hope everyone is saying a rosary for peace. The rosary is so powerful!

God bless.

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), April 15, 2004.


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