Bush admits his decisions have made Iraq 'unstable'

Last updated at 13:40pm on 15th January 2007




George Bush admitted last night that U.S. military action in Iraq had led to instability and made terror attacks on America more likely.

The president's startling admission in a TV interview undermined a major argument he and Tony Blair used to justify the war, that it would reduce terrorism.

In effect, Mr Bush acknowledged that the invasion and later bad decisions have made the terror threat against America and the West worse.
During the interview for the CBS show 60 Minutes, he said: 'I think history is going to look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better.'
In a televised address to the nation last week, he admitted mistakes but did not go as far.

In his CBS interview, Mr Bush insisted it was crucial to U.S. interests to get the sectarian violence in Iraq under control because the strife was a destabilising force in the Middle East that 'could lead to attacks here in America'.

He also said: 'My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the correct decision.
'We didn't find the weapons we thought we would find, or the weapons everybody thought he had. But he was a significant source of instability.

'We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude and most Iraqis express that.'

At the suggestion his administration had created instability in Iraq, Mr Bush said: 'Our administration took care of a source of instability in Iraq.
'Envision a world in which Saddam Hussein was rushing for a nuclear weapon to compete against Iran. He was a significant source of instability.'

When interviewer Scott Pelley insisted: 'It's much more unstable now,' Mr Bush said: 'Well, no question, decisions have made things unstable.'
The president said he had watched the Internet video of Saddam's hanging but not him falling through the trap door.

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki has been criticised for the way the execution was handled, with Shi'ite guards taunting Saddam on the gallows. One secretly filmed the execution and put it on the Internet.
'I thought it was discouraging,' Mr Bush said of the video.
He added: 'It's important that chapter of Iraqi history be closed. They could have handled it a lot better.'

In a radio address at the weekend Mr Bush said his plan to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to secure Baghdad and shore up forces fighting the insurgency in Anbar Province could succeed because 'American forces will have a green light to enter neighbourhoods that are home to those fuelling sectarian violence.'

Until now, U.S. forces have been restricted by the Iraqi prime minister from operating freely in the Sadr City area, home to a Shi'ite militia.
Mr Bush said those restrictions had been lifted.
Police patrols in Baghdad discovered 37 bodies over the weekend, all of them middle-aged men killed by gunfire. Some showed signs of torture.

In a visit to the city, Senator Hillary Clinton - expected to announce soon that she is running for the White House - criticised the troop increase, adding: 'I don't know that the American people or Congress believe this mission can work.'

I'm not surprised here Kunjufu about his admission. After watching fahrenheit 9/11 I wonder if any decision involving the invasion of Iraq was actually made by him.

Of course not.

Does this mean that him and his party can be taken to court? The war was illegal from the get go. They've killed more civilians than Saddam ever did.

I take this admission with a pinch of salt, because he hadfull knowledge of the 'possible outcome'(i.e. the one we see now) even before the invasion.There was no 'mistake' about the intention behind invading Iraq andit was done, as these things usually are,with an attitude of 'f**k the conseqences'. To be fair there was probably little he could do but go ahead, as he was not about to say no to his 'masters'.

This 'admission' (to obtain some PR benefit) is 'orchastrated, trust me. But you can bet your life the same thing would be done again as long as the 'motives' for doing this kind of thing (e.g. control of depleting world resources) still remain.

Given that the world energy scenario is getting ever increasingly dire, we can expect much worse than we've seen in Iraq and Afghanistan (remember them?) in the future.

Respect

Backatya wrote: I'm worried about Muslim nations in Southeast Asia may begin to exert themselves.

It wasnt Bush's decision anyway. They knew exactly what they were doing. They are not fools.