Bush takes responsibility for Iraq claim

AP | 7/30/03 | TOM RAUM

[kattracks]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Wednesday accepted personal responsibility for a controversial portion of last winter's State of the Union address dealing with claims that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear material in Africa.

"I take personal responsibility for everything I say, absolutely," the president said at a White House news conference. Bush has been seeking to quell a controversy over a controversial claim that has dogged his administration for weeks.

Speaking at his first solo news conference since March, the president said the deaths of Saddam Hussein's two sons marked progress in assuring the Iraqi people that the old regime was gone forever, but said "I don't know how close we are" to finding the deposed dictator.

"Closer than we were yesterday, I guess. All I know is we're on the hunt," he added.

Despite nearly daily deaths of American troops in postwar Iraq, Bush appealed for patience as Iraqis try and form a new, free society. "I didn't expect Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in a 90-day period," he said.

Bush said the United States and its allies would "complete our mission in Iraq, We will complete our mission in Afghanistan ... We will wage the war on terror against every enemy that plots against our people."

Bush had been asked before about the 16 controversial words in the State of the Union address, and had declined to take personal responsibility. Instead, CIA Director George Tenet did so, followed by a senior White House aide, deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley.

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," the president said in last winter's nationally televised address. But many CIA officials doubted the accuracy of the British intelligence — concerns that were not reflected in the decision to include the statement in the speech.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice has also come under criticism in connection with the speech and events leading to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Bush strongly defended his aide Wednesday, saying she was an "honest fabulous person" and the United States was lucky to have her in government.

[kattracks]

Bush had been asked before about the 16 controversial words in the State of the Union address, and had declined to take personal responsibility.

IIRC, President didn't decline anything. He said the speech was cleared by the CIA.

[goldstategop]

Its a true statement. The President could have avoided all the grief if he had stood by those 16 words and never apologized for it in the first place.

[NEWwoman]

Sounds like Bush was doing a "Trent Lott."

[Huck]

I would like to see a poll of America and see how many give a rat's ass about the non story of 16 words. Typical beltway rubbish.

[RetiredArmy]

Agree. Just another self-inflicted wound by the White House. Admitting to a correct statement like it was wrong in the first place. Just another dropped opportunity to say, "Hey! The press and democommies are chopping off words, editing the sentence to read the way they want it to read. I said: blah, blah, blah. What I said was a direct, correct, statement. Nothing there is untrue. The Brits said it, I followed on it. They continue to believe it." Instead, they deny and take responsibility for something that is suppose to be wrong or incorrect. Self-inflected wound.

[talleyman]

What you said.

[Joe Brower]

""I didn't expect Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in a 90-day period."

Right on -- nicely said. Nothing would do the people of Iraq more good than this, but this statement is acknowledging the sad fact that men of high character and powerful political thought who are willing to put their own lives on the line for something higher than themselves are a rare thing in this world.

You have to love how the leftmedia has spun "those sixteen words" lie for so long now it has, as they intended, become truth in the ignorant eyes of the pizza-eating public. A textbook case of the media, driven by it's agenda to destroy the current administration by whatever means they can gather, creates mountains out of molehills at every opportunity, the truth and their self-professed "journalistic objectivity" be damned.

The left still can't wrap it's brain around a man who will own up to his own words and his own mistakes, however trivial. A far, far cry from the immoral despot who's legacy is the statement, "That depends on what the definition of 'is' is.".

[ravingnutter]

But many CIA officials doubted the accuracy of the British intelligence — concerns that were not reflected in the decision to include the statement in the speech.

Ummm....I guess you could call it doubt...I call it stupidity...

An unsigned CIA memo on Oct. 5 advised that "the CIA had reservations about the British reporting" on Iraq's alleged attempts in Niger, Hadley said. A second memo, sent on Oct. 6, elaborated on the CIA's doubts, describing "some weakness in the evidence," such as the fact that Iraq already had a large stock of uranium and probably wouldn't need more, Hadley said.

Source

Why didn't THAT info make it into the report?

[Dems_R_Losers]

Man, the press is so predictable. In an hour news conference filled with real news, I knew immediately when President Bush answered that question that it would get top billing in the news reports.

You're right, the President did not "decline to take personal responsibility" before, he just changed the subject when the question was asked. I much prefer the way it was handled today. There were very few questions about the SOTU in the news conference today, so I think this flap has run its course.

[ravingnutter]

See my #8 about how the CIA shot themselves in the foot. I cannot believe they did not include the info that Saddam already had enough uranium to do what he wanted. I say we fire the whole CIA and start over and IMHO, Hadley needs to go too.

[kattracks]

From your source:

But Stephen Hadley, No. 2 on Bush's national security team, disclosed Tuesday that two CIA memos and a call from CIA Director George Tenet had persuaded him to take a similar passage out of a presidential speech in October - and that he should have done likewise when it turned up again in State of the Union drafts.

Hadley said he had forgotten about those objections by the time the State of the Union speech was being crafted.

[Howlin]

I bet 60 percent of them don't even KNOW about the 16 words.

[Howlin]

Exactly.

[Marysecretary]

I could care less. The dimicrats are really grasping at straws, aren't they? If you can't think of anything bad about our President, just make something up.

[Huck]

I would believe it. Only 400,000 people watch Hardball on a good night. That's out of a total population of 288,368,698.

[Howlin]

I have begun watching Hardball again on a nightly basis, just to see how Matthews manages to bring this back into EACH AND EVERY discussion he has. And to see who's "head" he thinks should roll now.

Call it morbid curiosity.

[cyncooper]

Bush strongly defended his aide Wednesday, saying she was an "honest fabulous person" and the United States was lucky to have her in government.

And President Bush said "PERIOD", at the end of saying how honest fabulous Rice is.

Rush playing the clip right now.

[Huck]

I have begun watching Hardball again on a nightly basis

Make it 400,001 ;-)

I put Hardball on if i want to chase my wife out of the room.

[cyncooper]

Bush had been asked before about the 16 controversial words in the State of the Union address, and had declined to take personal responsibility.

What a steaming pile....

[kabar]

I would also add that Saddam could have purchased fissionable materials from North Korea or Pakistan-or maybe even a bomb from North Korea. With billions of dollars at his disposal, Saddam was indeed a dangerous character who could have developed a bomb much faster than anyone could imagine.