Bush flip/flop on terror? Not even close! powerlineblog.com The idea that Bush may suddenly have changed his mind and decided that the war is a loser is so ludicrous that the current media storm can only be accounted for by panic over the prospect of the Kerry campaign's implosion.
Michelle Malkin tracked down the transcript of the Lauer interview, and the one sentence being denounced by the Dems and repeated in the media is even more absurdly out of context than I had expected. The question from Lauer that started the discussion was, "Do you really think we can win this war on terror in the next four years?” The discussion that followed was obviously about the time horizon in which the war on the Islamofascists can be won. Lauer obviously understood this, and did not think that he had gotten a scoop: the President's surrender in the war on terror.
In fact, if you go on a minute or two after the one sentence the Democrats are braying about, Bush said this:
I know if steadfast, strong and resolute — and I say those words very seriously — it's less likely that your kids are going to live under the threat of al-Qaida for a long period of time. I can't tell you. I don't have any … definite end. But I tell you this, when we succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's the beginning of the end for these extremists. Because freedom is going to have a powerful influence to make sure your kids can grow up in a peaceful world. If we believe, for example, that you can't win, and the alternative is to retreat … I think that would be a disaster for your children.
For the media to promote the idea that Bush seriously suggested that the war on terror can't be won, and is now "recanting," as the Associated Press reported today, is journalistic malpractice of an appalling sort. (Posted by Hindrocket at 06:57 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (5)) |
