ABC News' Martha Raddatz interviewed Mr. Bush just before he left Iraq on Sunday. Mostly the corporate media run news has been playing the clip of him saying, "And it was amusing. I mean, I've seen a lot of weird things during my presidency and this may rank up there as one of the weirdest." However very few are reporting the more important, more infuriating statement made after Martha called Mr. Bush on linking al Qaeda to Iraq.
Raddatz: Let's talk about this trip. Your last trip to the region as president. Your last trip to Iraq. Surely your legacy will be largely about this war. Talk to me about how that feels being here? The last trip and what you really think that legacy will be.
Bush: Well, first of all I think a president's legacy is going to take time. We've accomplished a lot in my administration. Like No Child Left Behind; 52 months of uninterrupted job growth; PEPFAR, which is the AIDS initiative in Africa; fighting malaria, where there's poverty; faith based; I mean there a lot that people will be able to judge this administration on.
Clearly, one of the most important parts of my job because of 9/11 was to defend the security of the American people. There have been no attacks since I have been president, since 9/11. One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al Qaeda was hoping to take ...
Raddatz: But not until after the U.S. invaded.
Bush: Yeah, that's right. So what? The point is that al Qaeda said they're going to take a stand. Well, first of all in the post-9/11 environment Saddam Hussein posed a threat. And then upon removal, al Qaeda decides to take a stand. And they're becoming defeated and I think history will say, one, the world was better off without Saddam, two, along with the Iraqi troops we have denied al Qaeda a safe haven because a young democracy is beginning to grow, which will be an important sign for people in the Middle East.
Essentially Bush is saying to the families of 4209 dead soldiers (as of the date of this post) 'So what if I sent them to their deaths on a pack of lies?' Bush is saying to the 30,852 (official as of the date of this post) wounded Iraq war veterans, 'So what if you're wounded, missing limbs, forever disfigured, hearing impaired, blinded, paralyzed, or mentally impaired? I don't care.'
To the Iraqi people who are angry at him for invading, and occupying their country, "Yeah, that's right. So what?" To the almost 100, 000 or more Iraqi civilians, consisting of children, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, "So what?"
This is the value of human life to George W. Bush. As he said at the end of the presser where the shoes were thrown at him "It's like people on the highway not gesturing with all five fingers." That is his parting gesture to the world.
ABC Exclusive: Bush 'Not Insulted' by Shoe Man.
Crossposted at Pam's House Blend and at Get-The-Skinny