{"id":22147,"date":"2006-11-01T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:05:18","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T07:05:18","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:05:18","slug":"rush_s_interview_with_president_george_w_bush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2006\/11\/01\/rush_s_interview_with_president_george_w_bush\/","title":{"rendered":"Rush\u2019s Interview with President George W. Bush"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Well, it\u2019s like saying that they\u2019re all over the world. You\u2019re not fighting a country here, a series of countries. You\u2019re fighting a movement that will hide out anywhere it can, and you\u2019re always going to have a renegade terrorist. Even if, let\u2019s say, we wipe out Al-Qaeda. There\u2019s some other group or individual that may spring up and blow up a bomb somewhere. That\u2019s always going to happen because it always has.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Right. Really what I was saying to Lauer was, is that this is not the kind of war where you sit down and sign a peace treaty. It\u2019s a totally different kind of war. But we will win it. Your listeners have got to know that I know we\u2019ll win it, but we\u2019re going to have to be resolved and firm, and we can\u2019t doubt what we stand for, and the long-term solution is to spread freedom. I love to tell the story, Rush, about a meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi. He\u2019s my friend. He\u2019s the prime minister of Japan. It wasn\u2019t all that long ago that my dad, your dad, and others dads were fighting against the Japanese, but because after World War II we believed that Japan could self-govern and could be democratic in its own fashion, Japan is no longer an enemy; it\u2019s a friend, and so I sit down with him to help resolve issues like the North Korean peninsula. In other words, we\u2019re working together to keep the peace. The same thing is going to happen in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that\u2019s when I say the transformational power of liberty. That\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about.<\/line>RUSH: Well, I remember you also said in one of your first speeches after the 9\/11 attacks that this is going to go maybe beyond one or even two terms that you might serve.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: I think so. On the other hand, we\u2019re making great progress. Today at the Legion I said, “We\u2019re winning the war on terror, and we will win the war on terror.” There\u2019s no doubt in my mind, so long as this country stays resolved and strong and determined, and by winning, I just would remind your listeners that Pakistan is now an ally in the war on terror. Saudi now takes Al-Qaeda seriously, and they\u2019re after the leadership. Libya is no longer got weapons of mass destruction. Afghanistan, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve discussed this on your program, but there are over ten million people who have registered to vote in Afghanistan, which is a phenomenal statistic when you think about it. And then of course Iraq is now heading toward elections as well, and we\u2019re making progress.<\/line>RUSH: Let me ask you —<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.<\/line>RUSH: Let me ask you about Iraq, because as I look at your opponent and his party, it seems to me that they want to separate the war on terror as something that\u2019s localized in Afghanistan, and that Iraq is a rogue war that you started for whatever reasons they\u2019ve concocted, and they are trying to make the American people believe there\u2019s no linkage whatsoever —<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.<\/line>RUSH: — between Iraq and the war on terror. Now, I\u2019ve heard you not only today, but in previous addresses that you\u2019ve made, there clearly is a linkage in your mind. Could you explain to the American people who are listening to this program, what is that linkage, war on terror to Iraq, why we\u2019re there? What your vision is for the war in Iraq? In your second term, what do you hope ?<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Sure.<\/line>RUSH: — happens and when?<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: First, let me address my opponents. They all, they saw a threat in Iraq, and they voted to remove Saddam Hussein by force if necessary. So, in other words, you know, John Kerry looked at the same intelligence I saw and saw a threat and voted for the authorization of force.<\/line> RUSH: Before he voted against it?<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Pardon me?<\/line>RUSH: Before he voted against it?<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: (Laughing.) Well, that was — you\u2019re talking about the actually funding of troops.<\/line>RUSH: Right.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: He made, in my judgment, a big mistake by saying yes, we can use force but we\u2019re not going to provide the troops the equipment necessary to fight the war.<\/line>RUSH: That\u2019s what it was.<\/line><\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: Now, Iraq. You see, one of the lessons of September the 11th is that we gotta deal with threats before they fully materialize, and we saw a threat in Iraq. I say “we.” The Congress saw a threat, I saw a threat and the United Nations Security Council saw a threat. In other words, the world took a look and said, “Saddam is a threat,” and here\u2019s why they thought he was a threat. One, he used weapons of mass destruction, and one of the most dangerous parts of this new war is that if the enemy were ever to acquire the capacity to use a weapon of mass destruction it would make September 11th, you know, pale in comparison, and so we saw that threat. <\/line>Secondly, he had ties to terrorists. Abu Nidal was housed in Iraq, his organization. He was the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. He was a known terrorist. Zarqawi — who\u2019s now, you know, the person beheading people in Iraq today — was in and out of Baghdad and Iraq, as were members of his organization. So he had terrorist ties. As a matter of fact, not only did he have terrorist ties, he used to subsidize families of these suicide bombers, which is a terrorist act. <\/line>Thirdly, he invaded his neighbors. Fourthly, he was an enemy of this country, and we had been to war with him once. He had invaded others in the neighborhood. He was a source of great instability. So I saw a threat, and given the lessons of September the 11th, we decided to remove him from power, having tried diplomacy. See, I think it\u2019s very important for your listeners to know, Rush, that the commander-in-chief ought to try all avenues of diplomacy prior to committing troops and we did that. And so I\u2019m sitting in the Oval Office, and I\u2019ve seen a threat. I now see that he\u2019s ignoring the demands of the free world, he had no intention of disarming, as a matter of fact was systematically deceiving inspectors, and so I made the decision, a very difficult decision. <\/line>The way forward, which was to remove him from power — and, by the way, we weren\u2019t “alone” going in. As a matter of fact, I talked to Tony Blair this morning, which I do on a regular basis, and Tony Blair saw the same threat. And so now the way ahead is this. We will work with Prime Minister Allawi to enable a political process to develop. In other words, we\u2019ll provide as much security as we can to help a political process forward which means elections in January, but more importantly we will train Iraqis so that they are capable of providing their own security, and that\u2019s an important ingredient about enabling me to say that troops will be there as long as necessary, but not a day longer — and by that I mean when the Iraqis are capable of defending themselves and as the political process emerges, we will then be in a position to say the mission has been completed, which is a democratic Iraq, an ally in the war on terror and a source of stability in a part of the world that needs stability and freedom.<\/line>RUSH: A couple quick things. I know your time is short. The Democrats — one voice I know for sure Elliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York, warned, literally warned the Republicans not to mention the September 11th attacks at the convention.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: (Laughing.) Well, they — evidently Rudy didn\u2019t heed his warnings.<\/line>RUSH: (Laughing.) I was going to ask you, because they did. They, of course, were allowed to do what they did on their first right. I thought it was tastefully done last night —<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you. I tell you, I\u2019m traveling with John McCain; I thought he gave a great speech. Look, September 11th is a defining moment in our history, and it\u2019s certainly a defining moment in my presidency, and the question is whether or not we\u2019ve learned the lessons. Three quick lessons. I\u2019ve already given you one lesson that I think is important to remember. We deal with threats before they fully materialize. What that means is that in the old days you could see a threat, and you may deal with it or you may not deal with it, but you never thought a threat would come to harm us. Those days are gone. <\/line>Secondly, if the United States ever says something we better mean it, and I say, “If you harbor a terrorist, you\u2019re just as guilty as a terrorist.” When you say something you gotta act on it. And by acting on it not only is Afghanistan free, but the world now knows that we mean what we say, which makes the world a more peaceful place in my judgment, and the third thing is that these killers are people you can\u2019t negotiate with. You\u2019ve got to find them. So that\u2019s why I told Matt Lauer what I told him. It\u2019s an unconventional war. In other words, these are people that, you know, they use terrorism as a tool to support and promote their ideology of hatred. And, you know, we must bring \u2019em to justice, and we are. Thursday night I will tell the people that three-quarters of the known Al-Qaeda leadership has been brought to justice. And we\u2019re still obviously on the hunt.<\/line>RUSH: Okay, final point. I remember your campaign for president, 2000. You mentioned some specific things that you would do if you were elected. One of them was tax cuts, and there were a couple other things. You talked about Social Security reform — and after you were elected and inaugurated, you set out to proceed to do those things, and I remember reading that the Democrats were surprised that you were actually doing what you said you were gonna do. Now, my last question: are you going to trick them again and actually do in your second term what you\u2019re going to campaign on doing? And what is that? What is your agenda the second term?<\/line><\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I\u2019m going to save some of it for the speech if you don\u2019t mind.<\/line>RUSH: All right.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: I mean, you\u2019re a good friend and I would hate to let you down, but —<\/line>RUSH: I understand. I understand totally. But I had to ask. I\u2019m curious.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Having said that — no, no, I understand completely. Look, what we\u2019re going to do is we\u2019re going to have government — look, the world has changed. No longer does just one person, generally a dad, work for the same company and receive a pension plan or health care from the same company. People change jobs. Women are in the workforce and therefore the role of government ought to be to enable people to be able to live in a changing world. Now, that means promoting policies that say you can own your own health care account like health savings accounts, promoting policies that says younger workers should be able to take some of their own money and set up a personal savings account as a part of Social Security, so they can call it their own. They can take it from job to job and they could pass it on to another generation, and so those are the kinds of things I\u2019m going to address. It\u2019s how government doesn\u2019t give order to people, but how government can enable people to realize dreams in a changing world.<\/line>RUSH: Mr. President, thanks so much for your time. It\u2019s always an honor and a thrill to speak to you —<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: How you feeling? Most importantly.<\/line>RUSH: Never better. I\u2019ve never been happier. I\u2019ve never been better, and you sound like you\u2019re ebullient as well. It\u2019s great to hear. I\u2019m getting all kinds of comments about the optimism that was on display last night at the convention. People are very, very upbeat and ecstatic. People wish you the best and they\u2019re praying for you every day.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: That\u2019s the most important thing people can do is pray, and I appreciate that. I tell you the crowds we\u2019re seeing out here are really big. I believe something is going on here in the hinterlands, in the heartland that is going to mean a victory come November, but I want to assure you I\u2019m going to keep working and keep laying out my vision, so people understand exactly why I\u2019ve made the decisions I\u2019ve made.<\/line>RUSH: Well, make no mistake about something. I can\u2019t speak for everybody, but I can speak for quite a few. They love you out there, Mr. President, and they only wish you the best.<\/line>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.<\/line>RUSH: Alright. George W. Bush.<\/line>END TRANSCRIPT<\/line><\/p>\n

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RUSH: Well, it\u2019s like saying that they\u2019re all over the world. You\u2019re not fighting a country here, a series of countries. You\u2019re fighting a movement that will hide out anywhere it can, and you\u2019re always going to have a renegade terrorist. Even if, let\u2019s say, we wipe out Al-Qaeda. There\u2019s some other group or individual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRush's Interview with President George W. 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