Chimpy sat down withABC’s [Boo!] Charlie Gibson yesterday aboard Air Force One.

We Must Not Believe Before The Job Is Done!

No question the Iraq War has been a divisive, you know, war, but what the American people have got to understand is, is that failure in Iraq will exacerbate this war on terror, will come home to hurt us. John Abizaid was right when he said, if we believe before the job is done, the enemy will follow us here. Success in Iraq will enable us to deal a major blow to an ideological enemy, and what I have called and firmly believe, is the … is an ideological war.

Saddam Used Weapons That He Did Not Use

Charlie, I just told you, the president’s job is to confront a threat, and … and if … if I can walk you back in history, uh, Saddam Hussein was clearly a threat. He was a sponsor of terror, he was shooting at American airplanes, he had invaded a neighbor, he had killed thousands of his own citizens, he had used weapons of mass destruction. We have learned since that he did not use them, but he had the capacity to use weapons of mass destruction. He was paying for suicide bombers, the families of suicide bombers.

Florida On My Mind

Presidents don’t get do-overs. But I did.

Down With Ideological Aims and Objectives

I find it interesting, uh, and history I think is going to judge this to be the case, that radical extremists, whether they be Shia or Sunni, use terrorist techniques to stop the advance of democracy. And the reason why is, is because they’ve got ideological aims and objectives.

I Believe It Although I Keep Saying It

Listen, I’m not suggesting that this is, that this is easy to get done, it’s hard. It’s hard because this country, for example, is recovering from tyranny. It’s hard because the former tyrant had divided people into groups, and pitting groups against each other, so there’s a lot of resentment and animosity, and it’s hard because al Qaeda, and their associates, will do whatever it takes to stop the advance of democracy. This is like the Cold War. I keep saying that, but I truly believe it’s the case.

Long Term Dumbass

The longer term victories come when democracy, Iraqi style democracy, Lebanese style democracy, a Palestinian democracy, exist, take root and are capable of helping kind of … defeat the … systems of government that created resentment and hopelessness which enables people to create suiciders, and that is the long term struggle.

All The Evidence Is In

And it’s very important for, … the free world to understand the stakes, and it became evident to me, evident to me — more evident to me — when Shia extremists attacked democracy of Israel at the same time that Sunni extremists are attacking the democracy of Iraq.

Catapult the Propaganda

The short term objective is to understand the stakes in this war against extremists.

LondonIslamabad is Calling

Gibson: Does that agreement [bewtwen Musharraf and the Taliban] worry you, though?

Bush: Well, I don’t know all the details … (overlap)

Gibson: Did you call him?

Bush: Yeah.

Gibson: Did you call him?

Bush:Well, I’m going. I’m going to see him pretty soon.

The Record Is Stuck

Generally it’s triggered when I meet somebody who lost their loved one … and that happens fairly frequently. Tell me … well, I lost a member of my family on 9/11, and … you know, it’s a good sign, by the way, that you’re able to empathize, that your heart breaks for somebody who suffered. 9/11, as I told you before, for this country, you know, is a … just changed our way of thinking, it changed your way of thinking, it changed my way of thinking.

Onded?

I felt, you know, I just … I felt, this, I guess kind of bonded to onded to the people there that were … were still agonizing. And I frankly was, when I said that we will bring these people to justice, and there was this kind of energy released in the room it caught me by surprise, because this … this had been a speech for people that are paying attention to every word, and yet there was an emotional outburst, which, you know, it affected me.

I culled some of the more interesting exchanges between Gibson and the Chimp and put them in the extended text, click Read More…

Iraq and the GWOT

Gibson: But the point that I make and that many of the critics make is that Iraq wasn’t a part of the war on terror until we went in there.

Bush: I think we … (overlap) Gibson: Now because of Iraq, they’re being produced, because (crosstalk)

Bush: I … I … listen, I understand it’s dangerous and troublesome, but I think it’s very important for the American people to ask, “Why, why is it that Osama bin Laden wants to drive us out of Iraq before this democracy can sustain itself?” One reason is they want a launching pad, another launching pad, a safe haven similar to Afghanistan. And the other reason is because Osama bin Laden recognizes that this is an ideological struggle, and the way to defeat an ideology of hate is with an ideology of hope, and that’s liberty and democracy.

Iraq and the GWOT: Chimpy Gets Pissed At Gibson

Gibson: A very good argument, that you just made for what you did in Afghanistan and what you did in working with the Pakistanis, to go after the Taliban, who were at the center of this, but Iraq was not, until we went in.

Bush: Charlie, I just told you, the president’s job is to confront a threat, and … and if … if I can walk you back in history, uh, Saddam Hussein was clearly a threat. He was a sponsor of terror, he was shooting at American airplanes, he had invaded a neighbor, he had killed thousands of his own citizens, he had used weapons of mass destruction. We have learned since that he did not use them, but he had the capacity to use weapons of mass destruction. He was paying for suicide bombers, the families of suicide bombers.

It wasn’t just the United States that saw a threat — Republicans and Democrats saw a threat. The international community saw a threat. He was given a last chance, and it was his choice to make.

Presidents don’t get do-overs. But I did. … I’m going to make this statement to you: This world is safer and better off without Saddam Hussein in power, and now the challenge is to help the reformers and moderates fight off the extremists in Iraq and develop a … and help a country grow that can defend itself, sustain itself, and govern itself, and will be an ally in the war on terror. Victory in Iraq is a major defeat toward the extremists and the radicals who want to do America harm.

Gibson Knows More About What Is Happening In Iraq Than The President

Gibson: You used the phrase a moment ago, what binds this country together, talking about Iraq.

Bush: Yeah.

Gibson: They, the Iraqi Parliament, has started debate on whether or not that country ought to be divided into three parts.

Bush: Yeah.

Gibson:Mistake?

Bush: In my judgment it would be. The constitution calls for a united country. I don’t think there’s … talking about three separate governments, I think they’re talking about a form of federalism.

Gibson: We are talking about three separate governments.

Bush: Well, some of them are, but others are talking about federalism, and I think it would be a mistake to have three separate countries.

Our Friends in Pakistan

Gibson: Let me ask you a couple of broader questions. You talked in your speech on Tuesday about working with friends in the region. To deny terrorists safe haven. On that very day, President Musharraf was signing an agreement with the Taliban to in effect give them free reign in an area on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Isn’t that exactly doing, he’s giving them safe haven? (crosstalk)

Bush: I don’t read it that way. As a matter of fact, the intelligence community came in and gave me a little more, uh, granularity on what he had done. … what he is doing is entering agreements with governors in the regions of the country, in the hopes that there would be an economic vitality, there will be alternatives to violence and terror. You know, we are watching this very carefully, obviously. We have made it … we have made it clear that, uh, he should not provide an environment that enables people to go from his country into Afghanistan. I haven’t seen the statements that he made in Afghanistan yesterday or today, but he is in Afghanistan today, and I know President Karzai is concerned about, the issue of enabling the Taliban to move.

[snip]

Gibson: Does that agreement worry you, though?

Bush: Well, I don’t know all the details … (overlap)

Chimpy Lies, Changes His Story

Gibson: Did you call him?

Bush: Yeah.

Gibson: Did you call him?

Bush:Well, I’m going. I’m going to see him pretty soon.

Defining Victory

Gibson: A broad question: You have, a number of times in going off to give speeches like you’re going to give today, used the line that we are not going to rest until there is victory in this war on terror.

Bush: Right.

Gibson: And you always get applause when you say it. I don’t know what victory is. Is it getting rid of every jihadist who would do us economic and, and, and indeed actual harm?

Bush: … There will be a series of victories in order to achieve victory in this ideological struggle. The first series of victories come when we dismantle al Qaeda and we’re in the process of doing that. Now, the short term strategy is to bring those to justice who would do us harm. The longer term victories come when democracy, Iraqi style democracy, Lebanese style democracy, a Palestinian democracy, exist, take root and are capable of helping kind of … defeat the … systems of government that created resentment and hopelessness which enables people to create suiciders, and that is the long term struggle.

Crying

Gibson:One of the extraordinary phenomenon, not to give too much away about myself, but in these five years, I have found at times, it’s overwhelming what happened and I find myself crying …

Bush: Yeah.

Gibson: … at inappropriate times. I was talking to, when I was over in Jerusalem, at the beginning of the war, to the new foreign minister of Israel. I said you know, we got to talking about 9/11 and I suddenly realized I was crying …

Bush: Yeah, I thank you for that.

Gibson: Does that happen to you?

Bush: Yeah, of course. Generally it’s triggered when I meet somebody who lost their loved one … and that happens fairly frequently. Tell me … well, I lost a member of my family on 9/11, and … you know, it’s a good sign, by the way, that you’re able to empathize, that your heart breaks for somebody who suffered. 9/11, as I told you before, for this country, you know, is a … just changed our way of thinking, it changed your way of thinking, it changed my way of thinking. For others overseas it was a terrible event, and that’s the fundamental difference about, you know, why some people react to the decisions I have made the way they do.