Bush Comments

There is an interesting article about Bush on the US News and World Report site, here. Its an interesting and worthwhile read. Some extracts from it, with my comments:

He said that nothing will change his belief in the universality of the desire for freedom, that Muslims, like Methodists, want to be free.
No problem there.

He says the most useful argument to make in support of his policy is to show what failure would mean.
Minor problem there. He needs to show that failure is worse that what we have now.

His overall goal, he says, is to leave us in a position to sustain long-term troop presence in Iraq. The ideal would be a bipartisan consensus that we would be there for a while.
Big, big problem there. Caustic and vulgar phrases describing him, his 'surge', and his personal trustworthiness come to mind.

"You don't know what it's like to be commander-in-chief until you are one."
Well, sure. Don't know what its like to be pregnant, either.

Americans must never lose faith in the ability of government to transform a region.
Yup. Has theirs? Not much. On the other hand, look what ours has done to us.

He seems to see himself in a position similar to that of Harry Truman in 1951-52, who had job approval ratings lower than Bush's are today but whose determination to stick it out in Korea and prosecute the Cold War are now seen as wise.
Don't doubt that's his worldview in the least.