The black humor of this is just too extreme "Bush expressed optimism Friday about Iraq's upcoming elections, saying they will be ``an incredibly hopeful experience,'"- I'm sure it will be an "incredibly hopeful experience" as in GEE I HOPE I DON'T GET KILLED ON MY WAY TO THE POLLS, OR FROM THE POLLS, OR JUST STANDING SOMEWHERE....
Bush throws out the best straight lines. It's good he is good at something.
Bush Confident About Iraqi Elections
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 7, 2005
Filed at 1:28 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush expressed optimism Friday about Iraq's upcoming elections, saying they will be ``an incredibly hopeful experience,' despite rising violence and doubts that the vote will bring stability and democracy.
``I know it's hard but it's hard for a reason,' Bush said, saying that a small number of insurgents are trying to impede the elections because they fear freedom. He acknowledged security problems in four of Iraq's 18 provinces.
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``This is a big moment for the Iraqi people,' Bush told reporters in the Oval Office. He spoke after a roadside bomb killed seven U.S. soldiers in northwest Baghdad and two Marines were killed in western Iraq on Thursday as insurgents continued their attacks ahead of the Jan. 30 elections.
Bush compared Iraqi insurgents with Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan. ``These are people who want to try to impose their will on people,' the president said. ``These are people just like the Taliban, just like Osama bin Laden who have this dim vision of the world that says: if you do not agree with us, then you're of no account. And they're trying to stop people from voting.'
Bush took issue with a gloomy assessment of Iraq's future by Brent Scowcroft, who was chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under Bush and national security adviser under Bush's father. Scowcroft said in a speech Thursday that the Iraqi elections ``have the great potential for deepening the conflict' and that divisions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims are likely to be increased.
``Quite the opposite,' Bush said. ``I think elections will be such an incredibly hopeful experience for the Iraqi people. Remember these are people that live in a society where if they didn't toe the line of the leadership, they would be tortured or killed or maimed. And all of the sudden a new way of life is being introduced into Iraq.'
Bush acknowledged that security problems hang over the vote in four of Iraq's 18 provinces. The other provinces ``appear to be relatively calm,' the president said.
``Four of the 18 provinces are places where the terrorists are trying to stop people from voting,' he said. ``And the reason they're trying to stop people from voting is because they understand that democracies stand in the exact opposite to what they believe.'
Bush said that some Sunni Muslim areas, in particular, are being targeted by insurgents. ``And their message is, ``If you vote, we'll kill you.' But the real message is, 'We can't stand democracy.' ... If the free world steps back and lets these people have their way, it'll be, ``We can't stand democracy here,' and then ``We can't stand democracy there.' And we'll never address the root causes of terror and hatred, which is frustration caused by tyranny.'
Bush said he discussed the elections recently with Iraq's interim president, Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni whose post is mostly symbolic. ``I said, 'How's your campaign going,' Bush said. ``He said, `It's going fine.' He's out there trying to convince people to vote for him. |
