Hold the presses! GWB develops nuances, or at least considers it. Bush Admits Misgivings About Famed Phrases President Bush Has Second Thoughts About Famous Phrases 'Bring 'Em On' and 'Dead or Alive' WASHINGTON Jan 14, 2005 — President Bush says he now sees that tough talk can have an "unintended consequence." During a round-table interview with reporters from 14 newspapers, the president, who not long ago declined to identify any mistakes he'd made during his first term, expressed misgivings for two of his most famous expressions: "Bring 'em on," in reference to Iraqis attacking U.S. troops, and his vow to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive." "Sometimes, words have consequences you don't intend them to mean," Bush said Thursday. "'Bring 'em on' is the classic example, when I was really trying to rally the troops and make it clear to them that I fully understood, you know, what a great job they were doing. And those words had an unintended consequence. It kind of, some interpreted it to be defiance in the face of danger. That certainly wasn't the case." On July 2, 2003, two months after he had declared an end to major combat in Iraq, Bush promised U.S. forces would stay until the creation of a free government there. To those who would attack U.S. forces in an attempt to deter that mission, Bush said, "My answer is, Bring 'em on." In the week after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush was asked if he wanted bin Laden, the terrorist leader blamed for the attacks, dead. "I want justice," Bush said. "And there's an old poster out West, that I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'" Recalling that remark, Bush told the reporters: "I can remember getting back to the White House, and Laura said, 'Why did you do that for?' I said, 'Well, it was just an expression that came out. I didn't rehearse it.' "I don't know if you'd call it a regret, but it certainly is a lesson that a president must be mindful of, that the words that you sometimes say. … I speak plainly sometimes, but you've got to be mindful of the consequences of the words. So put that down. I don't know if you'd call that a confession, a regret, something." During his second debate last year with presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry, Bush was asked to name three instances in which he had made a wrong decision. At the time he declined to identify any specific mistakes. Reporters at Thursday's round-table also asked Bush about the high price tag for his second inaugural celebration and suggestions the $40 million gala, which is being paid for by private donations much of it coming from lobbyists and corporations be scaled down. "The inauguration is a great festival of democracy," he said. "People are going to come from all over the country who are celebrating democracy and celebrating my victory, and I'm glad to celebrate with them." The newspapers participating in the round-table interview were the Detroit Free Press, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, The (Portland) Oregonian, the (Little Rock) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Miami Herald, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic, the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, The (Columbia, S.C.) State, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer-Press. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
"I don't know if you'd call it a regret, but it certainly is a lesson that a president must be mindful of, that the words that you sometimes say. … I speak plainly sometimes, but you've got to be mindful of the consequences of the words. So put that down. I don't know if you'd call that a confession, a regret, something." During his second debate last year with presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry, Bush was asked to name three instances in which he had made a wrong decision. At the time he declined to identify any specific mistakes. As an aside, GWB's failure to admit making a "mistake" has always bothered me a bit. We are all human after all. MIstakes happened to the best of us (like 51% of the country's voters last November ). Add in the fact that GWB consider Christ his role model, one might conclude that GWB has a Christ Complex.
Philippians 2:5-7 (New International Version) 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness
except the Bible, and this very veryse, says that Jesus was humble...and you're asserting that Bush is modeling Jesus in being less than humble...in being unable to admit his own mistakes.
you're asserting that Bush is modeling Jesus in being less than humble. I saying a little more than that Something more in the way of GWB arrogantly believing that he like Christ has not sinned (at least recently).
Does anybody really believe that these utterances had anything to do with what has happened in Iraq... other than be used for propoganda?
I don't think so. Critics have been haranguing him for a year to apologize for something; he, or his advisors, have chosen this. The hate that these extremists have for the US is deep-seeded and was not activated by either motto.
So you think Bush is being dishonest? Is this the motive that you assigned to why Bush mentioned this, or had you heard that theory elsewhere?
I don't think it is a matter of dishonest; it is a matter of being "forced" to kiss-up by constant criticism. It is probably a common theory that these or any utterances did not determine AQ "policy" no more than their utterances determined our "policy." It's about action not words. Just my .02....
Bush didn't say that his comments determined their policy. It just might have inspired them to fight harder. In basketball when one team trash talks another (bulletin board material) that isn't what makes the other team decide they want to win the game. That was already there. The bulletin board material might just inspire the team a little more. That is what Bush is saying he did. He isn't claiming to have turned a nice group against us.
If some extremist nut is willing to give up his life capriciously, I doubt that "bring 'em on" had anything to do with it. That fatal decision was made and would have been carried out with or without that utterance.
Except that you're viewing extreme anti-American sentiment as being something limited to a very small and fixed minority. While the numbers of people who are actually willing to do harm to the US and US interests is very small they have many sympathizers and our actions and the rhetoric of our leaders have a great affect on those numbers.
No. The problem there is the anti-American sentiment not the supposed impact of the remark, although there is undoubtedly a propoganda use for such ill-conceived remarks a la Jane Fonda. You got milk?
