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White House Reacts to Bob Woodward Book; Revelatory ABC News Interview From April
September 05, 2008 6:21 PM
ABC News’ Luis Martinez reports: The White House has issued a statement tonight from National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley saying Bob Woodward's new book paints an "incomplete" portrayal of the Bush administration's Iraq policy in 2006 when it appeared that Iraq was spiraling out of control.
Hadley takes issue with Woodward's claim in "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008" that President Bush continued to maintain publicly that U.S. forces were "winning” in Iraq while privately he had come to believe that the long-term strategy of training Iraq security forces and handing over responsibility to the new Iraqi government was failing.
The book is scheduled to be released Monday, but the book's contents have been written about in The Washington Post.
In his statement Hadley says, "The Washington Post article suggests that the President in his public statements during 2006 did not present a realistic picture of the situation in Iraq. This is not the case.”
However, in an interview in April with ABC News' White House correspondent Martha Raddatz, President Bush himself acknowledged that he had not been totally forthcoming about his Iraq strategy in 2006 at a time when Iraq was driven by ethnic conflict.
President Bush told Raddatz that he had continued to deliver upbeat public assessments of how the war was going even though by then he believed the Iraq strategy was failing.
RADDATZ: Did you think it would fail?
BUSH: I thought it was failing, yes, I did, and that's why -- and I listened to a lot of opinions. And as you remember, there were like all kinds of opinions. ....
RADDATZ: … All during that period -- April, May, June, July -- when things were really going downhill, people were talking about there being civil war …
BUSH: Yes.
RADDATZ: ... you were saying, "We're winning. We have a plan for victory. We are winning," up through October.
BUSH: Well, there was -- I also recognized -- I think if you'd go through the -- kind of fully analyze my statements, I was also saying, "The fighting is very tough, it's -- you know, the extremism is unacceptable. The murder is unacceptable." And you know, it's very important to be realistic …
RADDATZ: ... But the overall thing, when you say, "We're winning," you know what the American people hear. You know how that will play.
BUSH: Well, yes. I think we -- and I wanted -- that's as much trying to bolster the spirits of the people in the field as well as -- look, you can't have the commander in chief say to a bunch of kids who are sacrificing either, "It's not worth it," or, "You're losing." I mean, what does that do for morale? …
RADDATZ: It's one thing for the troops and boosting morale. I totally understand that. But do you think you lost credibility with the American people? Do you think that's one …
BUSH: Yes.
RADDATZ: ... of the reasons you couldn't sell this?
BUSH: I think the quickest way to lose credibility with the American people is for them to think the president makes decisions based upon the latest public opinion poll or what's good for a political party.
September 5, 2008 in Political Radar | Permalink | Share | User Comments (163)
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The President also loses credibility when the public perceives his decisions are based upon his biases rather than the intelligence that is available to him.
Posted by: msgijoe | Sep 5, 2008 6:50:09 PM
Posted by: newme234 | Sep 5, 2008 6:57:36 PM
Incomplete? You mean there is more?
Posted by: Ben Straub | Sep 5, 2008 7:00:27 PM
I watched both conventions and witnessed history.
Barack Hussein Obama is smart and has a great personality but he is not believable and cannot be trusted. Obama "HOPES" we won't notice how many times he has "CHANGED" his mind. He has based his entire campaign on lies. He has too many ties to terrorists and anti-Americans (Ayers, Rezko, Said, Farrakhan, Pfleger, Wright ['God Damn America'], etc.). If you are the leader of a country --- or a business for that matter, there are no "present" votes --- That's how Obama voted most of the time. He worked 142 days in the Senate and spent the rest of the time running for president. Obama will bankrupt America --- especially with his capital gains taxes. His death tax will hurt our children and grandchildren. No one is experienced on ALL issues; however, he is not experienced enough ON ANY ISSUE to run this country. Obama is unqualified and unfit to become Commander-In-Chief. In fact, his association with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, among others, would prevent him from getting the security clearance needed to enter the military as a private. HE HAS NEVER SERVED OUR COUNTRY!
Joe Biden does have political experience. If Obama wins, he will be the puppet and Biden the puppeteer (vie Bush/Cheney). The only difference is that Biden doesn't know when to shut his mouth or turn on his filter! In the debates, Biden himself said Obama was not prepared to be President and that it wasn't a position to "test drive". Biden was right --- we do not need a president in training! Obama knew how his own colleagues felt about his inexperience.
The Honorable John McCain has worked for our country for all of his adult life. He brings years of experience. He has proven he loves our country enough to die for us! John McCain is a Hero and true American Patriot. He has shown his integrity. He is genuine --- A man that I trust. As for his choice of Sarah Palin, she has a lot of good points herself. As one Proud American, he gets my vote!
Sarah Palin is smart, accomplished, believable and likable. She brings a breath of fresh air and offers change we can believe in. She has more executive and leadership experience than any candidate. She is governor of our largest state. She crossed party lines to do what was right for Alaska and will do the same for the United States of America! PALIN IS A STRONG COMBINATION OF GRACE AND STRENGTH. I have no qualms about stating that SOME DAY, Sarah Palin will most assuredly be the first woman President of the United States!
COUNTRY FIRST! THE HONORABLE JOHN McCAIN IN 2008 !
Posted by: CAROLINA GIRL! | Sep 5, 2008 7:06:01 PM
This jackass excuse for a President can't accept responsibility for anything, he is a lying piece of trash and I hope this selfish, incompetent poor excuse for a man doesn't get a good nights sleep for the rest of his pathetic life. Thanks for disrespecting and dishonoring over 200 years of America you little worm of a man.
Posted by: Real Americans Don't Buy Into This Government | Sep 5, 2008 7:09:25 PM
Bob Woodward has something to say about leadership? Hilarious!! Who is he? How about a political stalker begging for attention...just like his silly buddy, al gore. HAS BEEN. NEXT!
Posted by: sunny | Sep 5, 2008 7:12:54 PM
Another day, another revelation of House of Bush un-American activities committee.
Carolina Girl: If as you say "Biden was right" and we don't need a President-in-training, how can you possibly assert that Palin is a "breath of fresh air." Surely the bar is even higher for her, since one week ago the idea of serving as President was the farthest thought from her mind. If she's not available to answer questions from reporters in an unscripted environment she surely is nowhere near ready to handle national emergencies and foreign policy decisions with ramifications for thousands upon thousands of people.
I understand you are pumped up for your candidate, but you need to expunge the glaring contradictions from your argument. It makes you look like the girl at the pep rally who thinks that the loudest shouting the night before the game will actually matter once the ref blows the starting whistle.
Posted by: Mr Blifil | Sep 5, 2008 7:14:30 PM
CAROLINA GIRL! - McCain should be disqualified for singing a song about killing Persians. Surely you can see the evil in the lyrics.
Posted by: Ben Straub | Sep 5, 2008 7:17:29 PM
End of Republicans=End of War!
Posted by: mary | Sep 5, 2008 7:31:53 PM
At the risk of being unfashionable on this silly site, I point out that history will judge your President, George W. Bush a great president and a great man. In fact, the savageness of the corrupt 8 year liberal media attack is in response to the fact that he made democrats even more irrelevant then they make themselves. I take great joy in debating you Bush haters in person because once faced with something other then the democrat media nonsense, the moronic generalizations you mistake for reality are exposed and you're left stunned and silent. LOL Unfortunately, neither of these candidates are in his league and we will miss him greatly. Thank you GWB!!
Posted by: sunny | Sep 5, 2008 7:36:51 PM
Carolina Girl if your husband or boyfriend cheated on you and dumped you for a younger richer girl would he still be honorable in your eyes?
Posted by: nitty64 | Sep 5, 2008 7:37:43 PM
United States VICTORY = End of failure loving democrat party
Posted by: sunny | Sep 5, 2008 7:38:12 PM
End of Democrats = End of Hypocrisy
End of Obama = End of empty rhetoric and speeches about change.Changes that will never happen once he takes office.
The voice of Illinois "We voted for Obama as our senator. He said he would give us Change. Instead he used our change to pay for his presidential campaign"
Posted by: Samantha | Sep 5, 2008 7:41:45 PM
Bush is a moron; we've all known it. Nothing new here. So, now both McCain and Obama are claiming they are the agent of change. Seems pretty clear to me who seems more likely to be the one likely to change the status quo of the Bush presidency.
Posted by: MIguy | Sep 5, 2008 8:08:14 PM
John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.
Posted by: austinn04 | Sep 5, 2008 8:23:28 PM
You libs. are sounding like your in a major meltdown.This is why the people that love this country are just plain sick of you folks.
Hey ABC....Why do you keep promoting this blowhard? This is a man that cruises around in a limo like he is the great credible source of everything.Whata joke.Is their anything new that we don't already know? Gezzzzzzz
Posted by: OBXRAY | Sep 5, 2008 8:24:24 PM
NO OBXRAY we are just pointing out the truth...John McCain is 72 years old. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people. So because we dont agree with your point of view, we dont love our country....Play another song its getting old....
Posted by: austinn04 | Sep 5, 2008 8:34:33 PM
McCain-Palin-Bush policy
...always always attack the messenger
Posted by: attackfirst | Sep 5, 2008 8:59:10 PM
Right up until the congressional election in November, 2006, Bush was saying that we were making great progress in Iraq and that Rumsfeld was doing a great job. The day after the election he fired Rumsfeld and started to concede things weren't going well in Iraq. We don't need Bob Woodward to tell us that Bush was detached and lying to the American people about the situation in Iraq!
Posted by: hopesprings52 | Sep 5, 2008 9:19:35 PM
It seems to me that I hear the GOP screaming how Obama is wrong on everything then the proceed to either follow his policies (attack Taliban/Al-qaeda in Pakistan, set timetable for withdrawal in Iraq, talk to Iran) or co-opt his ideas (suddenly John McCain is the new bastion of "change"?)
Need to get their own ideas, it seems to me, if they don't like Obama's...
Posted by: MIguy | Sep 5, 2008 9:21:29 PM
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