Click"I watch what I say. … I said some things in the first term that were probably a little blunt. 'Bring it on' was a little blunt. I was really speaking to our troops, but it came out and had a different connotation, different meanings for others," he told Walters.
Bush used the phrase in July 2003 to say U.S. troops would not be scared off by Iraqi insurgents' attacks. During the presidential election campaign, his rival, Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, used the line to criticize administration policy. "If the White House wants to make this election about national security, I have three words they understand: 'Bring, it, on!' "
More recently, guerrillas in Iraq have used the president's words in a propaganda video narrated in English, according to the Reuters news agency. The narrator of the video says, "George W. Bush, you have asked us to 'bring it on.' And so help me, [we will ] like you never expected. Do you have another challenge?" The video then shows explosions around a U.S. military vehicle.
'We Will Stay on the Hunt'
Bush told Walters that the first lady criticized him for pledging after 9/11 to get al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "dead or alive."
"I'll be more disciplined in how I say things," the president, adding, "I have to be cautious about conveying thoughts in a way that doesn't send wrong impressions about our country."
Bush repeated that his administration will continue to make the war on terror a priority and continue its pursuit of bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Despite the recent release of taped messages in which bin Laden suggests that more attacks on American interests are being plotted, Bush said he believes the al Qaeda leader "is not as strong as he was."
"He's going to be weaker, and I intend to use our resources to bring him to justice," the president said. "We will stay on the hunt."