HUH?!? - Bush Refers To "Actual Iraqis I've Talked To"

Really interesting Dan Froomkin analysis of why Bush got so ticked off at NBC:

Bush typically sits down with interviewers from Fox News -- or, more recently, Politico-- where he can count on more than his share of ingratiating softballs. But Engel, a fluent Arabic speaker who has logged more time in Iraq than any other television correspondent, assertively confronted Bush with the ramifications of his actions in the Middle East.

For instance, Engel noted: "A lot of Iran's empowerment is a result of the war in Iraq." He questioned Bush about his lack of an exit strategy in Iraq: "So it doesn't sound like there's an end anytime soon." He clearly upset Bush by saying that "on the ground," the situation in Iraq "looks very bleak." (Bush replied: "Well, that's interesting you said that -- that's a little different from the surveys I've seen and a little different from the attitude of the actual Iraqis I've talked to, but you're entitled to your opinion.")

He also challenged Bush on his legacy: "If you look back over the last several years, the Middle East that you'll be handing over to the next President is deeply problematic: You have Hamas in power; Hezbollah empowered, taking to the streets, more -- stronger than the government; Iran empowered, Iraq still at war. What region are you handing over?"

And Bush seemed positively furious by the end of the interview, when Engel had this to say: "The war on terrorism has been the centerpiece of your presidency. Many people say that it has not made the world safer, that it has created more radicals. That there are more people in this part of the world who want to attack the United States."

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007413.html#more

From Actual Iraqis:





http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

What is the real death toll in Iraq?

The Americans learned one lesson from Vietnam: don't count the civilian dead. As a result, no one knows how many Iraqis have been killed in the five years since the invasion. Estimates put the toll at between 100,000 and one million,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/iraq

Study: 1 Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Invasion

A leading polling group says more than one million Iraqis have died as a result of the US invasion. The Britain-based Opinion Research Business found one-fifth of thousands of households interviewed had at least one death linked to the occupation and ensuing sectarian violence. The survey has a margin of error of 1.7 percent. The million figure could be higher, because researchers were barred from the volatile regions of Karbala and Anbar

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/1/headlines

Can we impeach him Yet?.... What a criminal he is.

'Course he doesn't really count, being an Iranian spy, and all.

Haves and Have Mores who agree with him are included in his discussion circle, the rest of us don't exist.

have failed miserably to do for the past 7 years.

It's about friggin' time...

that I've ever seen from an American interview. I liken it to the one by the Irish female journalist that enfuriated the boy king. Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/24696309#24696309

And Dan Froomkin's blog takes the boy king & his "counselor" to the woodshed over their anger toward NBC. Great read.

answering? It was like that snort that O'Reilly did in the old tape of his flame-out about the teleprompter... Like a bull getting ready to charge...

It's clear he isn't used to anyone contradicting him, or calling anything he says into question.

to reveal the evil Lizard-Boy underneath.:scared:

(Bush replied: "Well, that's interesting you said that -- that's a little different from the surveys I've seen and a little different from the attitude of the actual Iraqis I've talked to, but you're entitled to your opinion.")

Bush is delusional.

challenge this SOB who cares if he gets upset let him show everyone his true colors. good for Engel.

:wtf:

Is our boy presnit more delusional than usual?

Oh never mind...

But not "actual Iraqis" that actually live in Iraq.

Rather, the WH has found a handful of Iraqis who fled Iraq at the beginning of Saddam's reign, wound up in the United States, invested their money well and now own the franchises for a mid-size town's convenience stores or hotels. They're Iraqis, true, but neither they nor any of their family members have been in Iraq at any time in the last twenty years. They have become naturalized US citizens. Bush is using their expertise on Iraq to steer his policy, even though Jimmy Carter was in the White House when they left.

It's like the "Cuban Experts" the GOP relies on--the "actual Cubans" who live in the Miami area. You know, the ones who went north when Fulgencio Batista was still dictator and took their whole families with them. They know just as much about the current conditions in Cuba as I do, but the GOP sees them as experts because they were there once.

The only other Iraqis Shrub might talk to, and this is a stretch, are a handful of pre-selected (pre-bought is more like it) Iraqis the US has placed in their government. Those men will tell George Bush what George Bush wants to hear; then they hang up the phone, ask Allah to forgive them for lying, and go back out into the war zone. This is how Bush has the idea that things are going swimmingly in Iraq: they pay people to tell Bush this, they do and Bush brags about his wonderful decision to go in there and free those people.

I sometimes feel sorry for the people who work in the White House: their boss, who they serve at his pleasure (meaning he can fire at his pleasure if they go one inch off the reservation), has to be treated like a kindergartener. Remember the Harriet Miers memos, where she wrote him that he was the best governor ever? That's what you have to do with this man.