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Bush: Would Give 'Mission Accomplished' Speech Again
1 hour, 21 minutes ago
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said he had no regrets about donning a flight suit to give his "Mission Accomplished" speech on Iraq (news - web sites) in May 2003 and would do it all over again if he had the chance, according to excerpts from an television interview released on Sunday.
When asked by Fox News if he still would have put on a flight suit to declare major combat operations in Iraq over, Bush replied, "Absolutely."
When Bush gave his May 1 speech fewer than 150 Americans had died in the war. Since then more than 900 have died.
The interview is to air on Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor" on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, just before Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) face off in their first televised debate on Thursday.
Amid a rising U.S. death toll and a rash of abductions and beheadings in Iraq, some members of Bush's own Republican Party have criticized him for not doing enough to secure insurgent areas in Iraq sooner.
But Bush said he also did not regret the decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the rebel stronghold of Falluja earlier this year because he believed the conflict there could have jeopardized the June handover of sovereignty to Iraqis.
"A lot of people on the ground there thought that if we'd have gone into Falluja at the time, the interim government would not have been established," Bush said.
Also in the interview, the president was noncommittal about whether his top political aide, Karl Rove, knew in advance about ads by the group, "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" which attacked Kerry's military service in Vietnam. Bush himself did not serve in Vietnam.
On the issue of whether he knew ahead of time about the Swift Boat ads, Bush said "no," but replied "I don't think so" when questioned whether Rove had advance knowledge of them.
The Swift Boat ads accused Kerry of lying about the events that led to his decoration for bravery. As a so-called 527 organization, the Swift Boat group is barred under election rules from coordinating its activities with campaigns or political parties.
Democrats has accused the Bush campaign of colluding with the group, a charge the White House has denied.
On the issue of whether he knew ahead of time about the Swift Boat ads, Bush said "no," but replied "I don't think so" when questioned whether Rove had advance knowledge of them.
The Swift Boat ads accused Kerry of lying about the events that led to his decoration for bravery. As a so-called 527 organization, the Swift Boat group is barred under election rules from coordinating its activities with campaigns or political parties.
Democrats has accused the Bush campaign of colluding with the group, a charge the White House has denied.I don't see the point of whether the Bush campaign knew about the Swiftboat Ads in advance. They did not run any commercials using the allegations made by the Swiftys and all along, Bush has said that Kerry's service was honorable. On the other hand, you have the Dems firing up a "Fortunate Son" campaign that "cooincidently" was ready right after CBS aired its pile of garbage. I'm a little disappointed that O'Reilly would ask a question this pointless.
MissileMan said:On the issue of whether he knew ahead of time about the Swift Boat ads, Bush said "no," but replied "I don't think so" when questioned whether Rove had advance knowledge of them.
The Swift Boat ads accused Kerry of lying about the events that led to his decoration for bravery. As a so-called 527 organization, the Swift Boat group is barred under election rules from coordinating its activities with campaigns or political parties.
Democrats has accused the Bush campaign of colluding with the group, a charge the White House has denied.I don't see the point of whether the Bush campaign knew about the Swiftboat Ads in advance. They did not run any commercials using the allegations made by the Swiftys and all along, Bush has said that Kerry's service was honorable. On the other hand, you have the Dems firing up a "Fortunate Son" campaign that "cooincidently" was ready right after CBS aired its pile of garbage. I'm a little disappointed that O'Reilly would ask a question this pointless.
You noticed.
MissileMan said:On the issue of whether he knew ahead of time about the Swift Boat ads, Bush said "no," but replied "I don't think so" when questioned whether Rove had advance knowledge of them.
The Swift Boat ads accused Kerry of lying about the events that led to his decoration for bravery. As a so-called 527 organization, the Swift Boat group is barred under election rules from coordinating its activities with campaigns or political parties.
Democrats has accused the Bush campaign of colluding with the group, a charge the White House has denied.I don't see the point of whether the Bush campaign knew about the Swiftboat Ads in advance. They did not run any commercials using the allegations made by the Swiftys and all along, Bush has said that Kerry's service was honorable. On the other hand, you have the Dems firing up a "Fortunate Son" campaign that "cooincidently" was ready right after CBS aired its pile of garbage. I'm a little disappointed that O'Reilly would ask a question this pointless.
O'reilly would be hard-pressed to disappoint me anymore. I don't trust the man.
