Bush: "One of the hardest things for me is to meet with a mother"

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/bush_never_really_thought_abou.html#more

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Seated first in the Oval Office, the interviewer for Al Arabiya told the president: “Here it comes to my mind that how hard it is on you, Mr. President, to take like -- a big decision like war, for example -- is it that easy to take a decision such like war….

“No, it's the hardest decision a president can make,’’ Bush said. “And when I campaigned for office I never really thought about the decision to put men and women in harm's way. I never thought that that would happen. Circumstances changed, of course, and I had to make some very difficult decisions about how to protect our homeland and take action necessary to -- the actions that I think will yield the peace.

“One of the hardest things for me is to meet with a mother,’’ Bush said. “I met with a mother yesterday in Pennsylvania who lost her son in combat. And you know, those can be very tearful and emotional moments, and I understand that. And my -- the only thing I try to do is provide as much comfort as I can, and to assure the mom, in this case, that I thought the decision was necessary for peace, and necessary for our security; and that I valued the fact that her son would volunteer, and that I vowed to honor that sacrifice by achieving our objectives.

...

“Excuse me,’’ the interviewer asked, “what you're trying to say is sometimes a decision of war -- you have to take a decision of war in order to achieve peace.’’

“That's exactly right,’’ Bush said.

Saddam Hussein “had the choice as to whether or not this issue would be resolved peacefully,’’ Bush said. “And so I don't regret the decision. As a matter of fact, I feel it was the right decision to this day. And now the question is, will America keep its commitment to the millions of Iraqis who want this society to work? And the answer to that is, yes, we will.’’