Great Comments
Here are some great lines and comments from today's speech by President Bush:
In regards to his feelings on the decisions you have to make as President:
"First of all, when you make decisions, you've got to stand on principle. If you're going to make decisions, you've got to know what you believe. I guess the best way to summarize me is I came from Texas and I'm going back to Texas with the exact same values I had when I arrived in Washington, D.C."
In regards to bin Laden, Zarwahiri, and their minions:
"They've got a -- they have no heart, no conscience. They kill innocent men, women and children to achieve their objective. These folks cannot be appeased. We can't hope that nice words will change their point of view."
In regards to NSA 'wiretapping':
"It's amazing when people say to me, 'Well, he's just breaking the law.' If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing congress?"
"And one of the ways to protect the American people is to understand the intentions of the enemy. I told you it's a different kind of war with a different kind of enemy. If they're making phone calls into the United States, we need to know why -- to protect you.."
In regards to protecting the U.S. after 9/11:
"I knew right after Sept. 11, though, the attack would begin to fade from people's memories. Who wants to go through life thinking you're going to get hit again? … I want to assure you and our fellow Americans I'm not going to put it in the past … for me, it's not an isolated incident, I understand there's still an enemy who lurks out there."
"Threats must be taken seriously now, because geography doesn't protect us and there's an enemy that still lurks."
In regards to Iraq's WMDs:
"The world thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, it wasn't just me or my administration."
A member of the audience, a woman from Iraq, praised the President. She thanked him for freeing 27 million people. She then got a little angry about Bush's detractors who say there were no weapons of mass destruction. She stated emphatically that Saddam Hussein and his 'cronies' were the weapons of mass destruction. "Please stop questioning the administration and their decision, it was the best decision anyone could take, freeing 27 million people," she said. She also told him that both her sister-in-law and her aunt not only voted, but are now elected members of Parliament.
In regards to conditions in Iraq and troop levels:
"Now, I want to emphasize something to you, you heard me say, "our commanders on the ground said," you see, sometimes in the political process people feel beholden to polls and focus groups. You don't have to worry about me. I'm going to be listening to the people that know what they're talking about, and that's the commanders on the ground in Iraq."
In regards to the foundation of peace:
"Some day an American President will be sitting down with elected leaders from a country like Iraq talking about how to keep the peace. This generation is rising to the challenge. We're looking at history, we understand our values, and we're laying that foundation of peace for generations to come."
A closing remark:
"I'm just confident that if we don't lose our will, and stay strong, and that as that liberty advances, people may look back at this lecture and other speeches by people who profess the same devotion to freedom that I've had, and say, you know, maybe they're just right. Maybe America, that was founded on natural rights of men and women is a ticket for peace. Maybe that kind of view -- that every person matters, that there are such things as human dignity and the basic freedoms that we feel, that becomes a huge catalyst for change for the better.
These troops are defending you with all their might, but at the same time, they're beginning to help change that world by spreading liberty and freedom."
If you were unable to see or hear his speech today, I encourage you to read the full transcript at White House.gov.
In regards to his feelings on the decisions you have to make as President:
"First of all, when you make decisions, you've got to stand on principle. If you're going to make decisions, you've got to know what you believe. I guess the best way to summarize me is I came from Texas and I'm going back to Texas with the exact same values I had when I arrived in Washington, D.C."
In regards to bin Laden, Zarwahiri, and their minions:
"They've got a -- they have no heart, no conscience. They kill innocent men, women and children to achieve their objective. These folks cannot be appeased. We can't hope that nice words will change their point of view."
In regards to NSA 'wiretapping':
"It's amazing when people say to me, 'Well, he's just breaking the law.' If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing congress?"
"And one of the ways to protect the American people is to understand the intentions of the enemy. I told you it's a different kind of war with a different kind of enemy. If they're making phone calls into the United States, we need to know why -- to protect you.."
In regards to protecting the U.S. after 9/11:
"I knew right after Sept. 11, though, the attack would begin to fade from people's memories. Who wants to go through life thinking you're going to get hit again? … I want to assure you and our fellow Americans I'm not going to put it in the past … for me, it's not an isolated incident, I understand there's still an enemy who lurks out there."
"Threats must be taken seriously now, because geography doesn't protect us and there's an enemy that still lurks."
In regards to Iraq's WMDs:
"The world thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, it wasn't just me or my administration."
A member of the audience, a woman from Iraq, praised the President. She thanked him for freeing 27 million people. She then got a little angry about Bush's detractors who say there were no weapons of mass destruction. She stated emphatically that Saddam Hussein and his 'cronies' were the weapons of mass destruction. "Please stop questioning the administration and their decision, it was the best decision anyone could take, freeing 27 million people," she said. She also told him that both her sister-in-law and her aunt not only voted, but are now elected members of Parliament.
In regards to conditions in Iraq and troop levels:
"Now, I want to emphasize something to you, you heard me say, "our commanders on the ground said," you see, sometimes in the political process people feel beholden to polls and focus groups. You don't have to worry about me. I'm going to be listening to the people that know what they're talking about, and that's the commanders on the ground in Iraq."
In regards to the foundation of peace:
"Some day an American President will be sitting down with elected leaders from a country like Iraq talking about how to keep the peace. This generation is rising to the challenge. We're looking at history, we understand our values, and we're laying that foundation of peace for generations to come."
A closing remark:
"I'm just confident that if we don't lose our will, and stay strong, and that as that liberty advances, people may look back at this lecture and other speeches by people who profess the same devotion to freedom that I've had, and say, you know, maybe they're just right. Maybe America, that was founded on natural rights of men and women is a ticket for peace. Maybe that kind of view -- that every person matters, that there are such things as human dignity and the basic freedoms that we feel, that becomes a huge catalyst for change for the better.
These troops are defending you with all their might, but at the same time, they're beginning to help change that world by spreading liberty and freedom."
If you were unable to see or hear his speech today, I encourage you to read the full transcript at White House.gov.
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