beh buti nga

I was channel surfing last night, when I chanced upon the George Bush-Helen Thomas exchange during the presidential press conference at the White House. It was clear that Dubya was verbally clobbered by Thomas. She was relentless in her attack against Bush who was obviously upset with how things turned up. It was supposed to be HIS show. He was there to convince the American people and the world that he knows what he is doing in Iraq and he is IN CONTROL. To the millions of viewers last night, it was clear that three years after the invasion Bush is still not sure why he went to war.

For those who missed it, Helen Thomas 'outed' Bush and showed the whole world he did not know that Iraq and Afghanistan are two different countries. Nagmukha syang tanga.

Here is the exchange:

DUBYA: Excuse me, excuse me. No President wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true. My attitude about the defense of this country changed on September the 11th. We -- when we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people. Our foreign policy changed on that day, Helen. You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy. But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And I'm never going to forget it. And I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people that we will do everything in our power to protect our people.

Part of that meant to make sure that we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy. And that's why I went into Iraq -- hold on for a second --

HELEN THOMAS: They didn't do anything to you, or to our country.

DUBYA: Look -- excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. They did. The Taliban provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where al Qaeda trained --

HELEN THOMAS: I'm talking about Iraq --

DUBYA: Helen, excuse me. That's where -- Afghanistan provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That's where they trained. That's where they plotted. That's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.

I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences -