Bush: "If we can’t win, I’ll pull us out...I'm not a good faker"

Human Torch

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Thu Oct-26-06 09:13 AM
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Bush: "If we can’t win, I’ll pull us out...I'm not a good faker"

October 25, 2006 9:29 PM

Bush on Iraq: “If We Can’t Win, I’ll Pull Us Out.”
The president talks candidly to a group of conservative journalists.

“We are on the offense,” Bush answered. U.S. forces are taking it to the enemy every day. But he explained that the administration had made a decision that in some ways has hobbled its ability to show just how much it is on the offense. “We have made a conscious effort not to be a body-count team,” Bush said, in a clear reference to the tabulations of enemy killed that became a hallmark of the Vietnam War. And that, in turn, “gives you the impression that are just there — kind of moving around, directing traffic, and somebody takes a shot at them and they’re down.”

Bush took pains to stress that is not the case. “Al Qaeda has got special operations teams on them every day,” he said. “The death-squad leaders — well, we had two operations today that created a little news. These boys are after them. Given actionable intelligence, they’re moving hard, and they’re pressing hard. And I don’t want to give you numbers. It’s frustrating, however, because you’re right, it’s the perception that this military power full of decent people is just getting picked off and nothing’s happening. And I share the same frustration you share.”

Most of all, though, Bush said he realizes that the American people share that frustration, too. “People, most of them, are out there saying, ‘What are you doing? Get after ‘em,’“ Bush said. He’s heard it himself. “I’m from Texas,” Bush continued. “My buddies are saying, are you doing enough, not are you doing too little. They want to know, are we winning. They want to know, this mighty country, are we doing what it takes to win?” It would be fair to say that no one fully knew the answer to that question. At times during the conversation, the president seemed vexed — not beaten, not downcast, but vexed — by conditions in Iraq. Bush didn’t say so, but from his words it seemed hard to deny that in some significant measure the insurgents and the sectarian killers are in control in the country, and that the fate of the American mission is in their hands. “The frustration is that the definition of success has now gotten to be, how many innocent people are dying?” the president said. “And if there’s a lot dying, it means the enemy is winning.” He paused. “That doesn’t mean they’re winning.”

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But in the end, there is still that frustration with a level of violence that U.S. forces don’t seem able to control. The consequences tear at Bush every day, but he remains convinced that the war will ultimately succeed. “If we can’t win, I’ll pull us out,” the president said. “If I didn’t think it was noble and just and we can win, we’re gone. I can’t — I’m not going to keep those kids in there and have to deal with their loved ones. I can’t cover it up when I meet with a family who’s lost a child. I cry, I weep, I hug. And I’ve got to be able to look them in the eye and say, we’re going to win. I have to be able to do that. And I’m not a good faker.”

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