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Link to the transcript :) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/28/AR2006072800939.html

Wow, that whole press conference was superb, including the answers to the reporters' questions. It should be required reading for any of the folks who still don't "get" what we're up against, the terrorists' real goals and motives, and how to best deal with it.

The press conference explains in detail the truth described in this pithy quote:

“Peace means something different from ‘not fighting’. Those aren’t peace advocates, they're ‘stop fighting’ advocates. Peace is an active and complex thing and sometimes fighting is part of what it takes to get it.”
(Jo Walton)

And for anyone who still buys into the nonsense about President Bush being a moron, I'd like to see them explain how insightful and eloquent he was in this off-the-cuff answer to a reporter's simple-minded question (from the same news conference):

QUESTION: Mr. President, you spoke of having a plan to rebuild houses in Lebanon. Wouldn't the people of Lebanon rather know when you're going to tell the Israelis to stop destroying the houses?
BUSH: Look, we care deeply about the people whose lives have been affected in Lebanon, just like we care deeply about the people whose lives have been affected in Israel.
There's over a million people in Israel that are, you know, are threatened by this consistent rocket attack coming out of Lebanon.
And, yes, we want to help people rebuild their lives; absolutely. But we also want to address the root causes of the problem. And the root cause of the problem is you've got Hezbollah that is armed and willing to fire rockets into Israel.
A Hezbollah, by the way -- that, I firmly believe, is backed by Iran and encouraged by Iran.
And so, for the sake of long-term stability, we've got to deal with this issue now.
And, you know, listen, the temptation is to say, "It's too tough. Let's just try to solve it quickly with something that won't last. Let's just get it off the TV screens."
But that won't solve the problem. And it's certainly not going to help the Lebanese citizens have a life that is normal and peaceful.
What is necessary is to help the Siniora government. And one way to help the Siniora government is to make aid available to help rebuild the houses that were destroyed.
Another way to help the Siniora government is to implement [UN resolution] 1559, which is the disarmament of armed militia inside his country.
And I -- look, we care deeply about the lives that have been affected, on both sides of this issue -- just like I care deeply about the innocent people who are being killed in Iraq, and people being denied a state in the Palestinian territory.
But make no mistake about it: It is the goal and aims of the terrorist organizations to stop that type of advance. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to evoke sympathy for themselves.
They're not sympathetic people. They're violent, cold-blooded killers who are trying to stop the advance of freedom.
And this is the calling of the 21st century, it seems like to me. And now's the time to confront the problem.
And, of course, we're going to help the people in Lebanon rebuild their lives. And -- but, as Tony said, this conflict started out of the blue with two Israeli soldiers kidnapped and rockets being fired across the border.
Now, we have urged restraint. We've made it clear that we care about wanton destruction. On the other hand, in my judgment, it would be a big mistake not to solve the underlying problems. Otherwise, everything will seem fine, and then you'll be back at a press conference saying: How come you didn't solve the underlying problems?

"Dumb" ol' Bush understands this issue far better than his simple-minded detractors do.