"
Not me!" sez the Preznit, enthusiastically playing the blame game. From today's L.A. Times:
"To leave Iraq now would be to repeat the costly mistakes of the past that led to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001," Bush said at the Pentagon after a briefing by Defense officials.
Without mentioning his predecessors by name, he cited as examples the U.S. response to the hostage crisis in Iran during the Carter administration, the Lebanon bombing during Reagan's term and four events on Bill Clinton's watch: the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the attack on the battleship Cole. In each case, the president chose not to retaliate with large-scale military offensives.
"The terrorists concluded that we lacked the courage and character to defend ourselves, and so they attacked us," Bush said. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior military officials stood at his side.
Dude - when a Republican starts blaming Reagan, for God's sake, you know they're desperate.