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Edited on Sun Feb-08-04 07:37 PM by TruthIsAll
RUSSERT: Mr. President, welcome back to Meet the Press.
BUSH: Thank you, sir.
RUSSERT: On Friday, you announced a committee, commission to look into intelligence failures regarding the Iraq war and our entire intelligence community. You have been reluctant to do that for some time. Why?
BUSH: Well, first let me kind of step back and talk about intelligence in general, if I might.
Intelligence is a vital part of fighting and winning the war against the terrorists. It is -- because the war against terrorists is a war against individuals who hide in caves in remote parts of the world, individuals who have these kind of shadowy networks, individuals who deal with rogue nations. So we need a good intelligence system. We need really good intelligence.
So the commission I set up is to obviously analyze what went right or what went wrong with the Iraqi intelligence. It was kind of lessons learned. But it's really set up to make sure the intelligence services provide as good a product as possible for future presidents, as well. This is just a part of analyzing where we are on the war against terror.
There is a lot of investigations going on about the intelligence service, particularly in the Congress, and that's good as well. The Congress has got the capacity to look at the intelligence gathering without giving away state secrets. And I look forward to all the investigations and looks.
Again, I repeat to you, the capacity to have good intelligence means that a president can make good calls about fighting this war on terror.
TIA: What about the Office of Special Plans. Did they provide you with intelligence?
RUSSERT: Prime Minister Blair has set up a similar commission in Great Britain.
BUSH: Yes.
RUSSERT: His is going to report back in July.
BUSH: Right.
RUSSERT: Ours is not going to be until March of 2005, five months after the presidential election.
BUSH: Yes.
RUSSERT: Shouldn't the American people have the benefit of the commission before the election?
BUSH: Well, the reason why we gave it time is because we didn't want it to be hurried. This is a strategic look, kind of a big- picture look about the intelligence-gathering capacities of the United States of America, whether it be the capacity to gather intelligence in North Korea, or how we've used our intelligence to, for example, learn more information about A.Q. Khan. And it's important that this investigation take its time.
Now, look, we're in a political season. I fully understand people -- He's trying to avoid responsibility. There's going to be ample time for the American people to assess whether or not I made good calls, whether or not I used good judgment, whether or not I made the right decision in removing Saddam Hussein from power. And I look forward to that debate, and I look forward to talking to the American people about why I made the decisions I made.
The commission I set up, Tim, is one that will help future presidents understand how best to fight the war on terror. It's an important part of the kind of lessons learned in Iraq and lessons learned in Afghanistan prior to us going in, lessons learned that we can apply to both Iran and North Korea, because we still have a dangerous world.
TIA: You mean you will teach John Kerry how to fight the war on terror?
BUSH:And that's very important for, I think, the people to understand where I'm coming from, to know that this is a dangerous world. I wish it wasn't.
I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind. And again, I wish it wasn't true, but it is true.
TIA: Don’t you think America needs a peace president?
And the American people need to know they've got a president who sees the world the way it is. And I see dangers that exist, and it's important for us to deal with them.
RUSSERT: Will you testify before the commission?
BUSH: This commission? You know, I don't testify. I mean, I will be glad to visit with them. I will be glad to share with them knowledge. I will be glad to make recommendations, if they ask for some.
TIA: Oh, so you will recommend to the CIA as to how they will do their work?
BUSH:You know, I'm interested in getting -- I'm interested in making sure the intelligence gathering works well.
Listen, we've got some fine -- let me, again, just give you a sense of where I am on the intelligence systems of America.
First of all, I strongly believe the CIA is ably led by George Tenet. He comes and briefs me on a regular basis about what he and his analysts see in the world.
TIA: If they are ably led, how come you are so critical of the quality of their intelligence? Do you blame the people in the field? Like Joe Wilson or Valerie Plame?
RUSSERT: His job is not in jeopardy?
BUSH: No, not at all, not at all.
We've got people working hard in intelligence gathering around the world to get as good an information as possible.
Intelligence requires, you know, all kinds of assets to bring information to the president, and I want that intelligence service to be strong, viable, competent, confident, and provide good product to the president, so I can make judgment calls.
TIA: So you are saying that you make the calls? Does that mean the buck stops at your desk?
RUSSERT: There is another commission right now looking into September 11th.
BUSH: Yes.
RUSSERT: Will you testify before that commission?
BUSH: We have given extraordinary cooperation with Chairmen Kean and Hamilton. As you know, we made an agreement on what's called Presidential Daily Briefs, so they could see the information the CIA provided me -- that is unique, by the way, to have provided what's called the PDB, because...
TIA: Answer the question. Will you testify?
RUSSERT: Presidential Daily Brief?
BUSH: Right. And, see, the danger of allowing for information that I get briefed on out in the public arena is that it could mean that the product that I receive or future presidents receive is somewhat guarded for fear of it being revealed, for fear of people saying, Well, you know, we're going to second-guess that which you told the president. I need good, honest information.
TIA: Then why are you providing PDB’s to the Intelligence Commission?
BUSH:But we have shared this information with both those gentlemen, gentlemen I trust, so they can get a better picture of what took place prior to September the 11th.
And again, we want -- I want the truth to be known. I want there to be a full analysis done, so that we can better prepare the homeland, for example, against what might occur. This is all in the context of war. And the more we learn about, you know, what took place in the past, the more we're going to be able to better prepare for future attacks.
RUSSERT: Would you submit for questioning, though, to the 9/11 commission?
BUSH: Perhaps, perhaps.
TIA: Would you answer questions under oath? Or just give your standard Saddam is a murderer-who-gassed-his-own-people-and-was-a-threat-to-the-whole-world speech?
RUSSERT: Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican...
BUSH: Yes.
RUSSERT: ... said he is absolutely convinced we will capture Osama bin Laden before the election.
BUSH: Well, I appreciate his optimism. I have no idea whether we'll capture or -- bring him to justice, may be the best way to put it. I know we're on the hunt.
And Osama bin Laden is a cold-blooded killer. And he represents the nature of the enemy that we face. These are people that will kill on a moment's notice, and they'll kill innocent women and children.
And he's hiding, and we're trying to find him. There's a -- you know, there's a lot of focus on Iraq, and there should be. But we've got thousands of troops, agents, allies on the hunt.
And we're doing a pretty good job of dismantling Al Qaida -- better than a pretty good job, a very good job. I keep saying in my speeches, two-thirds of known Al Qaida leaders have been captured or killed, and that's the truth.
RUSSERT: Do you have a pretty good idea where Osama is?
BUSH: You know, I'm not going to comment on that.
TIA: Didn’t his brother go into business with you at Arbusto?
RUSSERT: Let me turn to Iraq. And this is the whole idea of what you based your decision to go to war on.
BUSH: Sure, sure.
RUSSERT: The night you took the country to war, March 17th, you said this: Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
BUSH: Right.
RUSSERT: That, apparently, is not the case.
BUSH: Correct.
RUSSERT: How do you respond to critics who say that you brought the nation to war under false pretenses?
BUSH: Yes. The -- first of all, I expected to find the weapons. I'm sitting behind this desk, making a very difficult decision of war and peace, and I based my decision on the best intelligence possible, intelligence that had been gathered over the years, intelligence that not only our analysts thought was valid but analysts from other countries thought were valid.
TIA: So the best intelligence told you there were weapons?
BUSH:And I made a decision, based upon that intelligence, in the context of the war against terror. In other words, we were attacked, and therefore, every threat had to be reanalyzed, every threat had to be looked at, every potential harm to America had to be judged in the context of this war on terror.
And I made the decision, obviously, to take our case to the international community, in the hopes that we could do this -- achieve a disarmament of Saddam Hussein peacefully.
TIA: Achieve a disarmament? You mean disarm him?
BUSH:In other words, we looked at the intelligence, and we remembered the fact that he had used weapons, which meant he had had weapons. We knew the fact that he was paying for suicide bombers. We knew the fact that he was funding terrorist groups.
TIA: So why would the CIA feed you BAD intelligence?
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