One Utah

Greg Mitchell reminds us that it appeared in The New York Times five years ago today. One of the most irresponsible remarks ever by a U.S. President:

“Anybody who wants to harm American troops will be found and brought to justice,” Bush said. “There are some that feel like if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don’t understand what they are talking about if that is the case. Let me finish. There are some who feel like the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring ‘em on.”

When President Bush dared the insurgents to attack, 186 Americans had lost their lives in Iraq. More than 4000 American military personnel, and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, have died since that date. Nearly 30,000 Americans have been wounded.

Bush eventually was forced to make a rare admission of error in a press conference on May 25, 2006. He confessed, “I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner,” and it was “kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people.” He apologized for his warmongering again on his recent trip to Europe.

This whole thing was pathetic. Bush thinks he sounds Churchillian, but instead comes across like he’s talking to the World Wrestling Federation. If the American empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their dumbest hour.’

More: YouTube - President George W. Bush Says “Bring ‘em on”

This entry was posted Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 am and is filed under Disaster, George W. Bush, Iraq, National Politics, This Blog, War. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.