I had no intention of returning to this issue again, but Bush’s confusion about pre-war Iraq is still troubling me.
Bush spoke with reporters briefly yesterday after welcoming Polish President Kwasniewski to the White House. One reporter noted that David Kay, the administration’s hand-picked inspector sent to Iraq to search for WMD, has found nothing and now believes Iraq didn’t have WMD. The reporter urged the president to “account for the difference” between Bush’s pre-war rhetoric and post-war realities. “Don’t you owe the American people an explanation?” the reporter asked.
Bush replied, “I think the Iraq Survey Group must do its work. Again, I appreciate David Kay’s contribution. I said in the run-up to the war against Iraq that — first of all, I hoped the international community would take care of him. I was hoping the United Nations would enforce its resolutions, one of many. And then we went to the United Nations, of course, and got an overwhelming resolution — 1441 — unanimous resolution, that said to Saddam, you must disclose and destroy your weapons programs, which obviously meant the world felt he had such programs. He chose defiance. It was his choice to make, and he did not let us in.” [emphasis added]
This is a disturbing answer on a couple of levels. Bush obviously ignored the substantive question altogether, sidestepping a legitimate request for an explanation about why the White House was so terribly and completely wrong about Iraqi WMD, which was the stated purpose for the war in the first place.
But it was that last phrase that caught my attention — “It was [Saddam’s] choice to make, and he did not let us in.”
What does that mean, exactly? It sounds as if Bush is once again suggesting that Saddam Hussein refused to allow UN weapons inspectors into the country as was required by Resolution 1441.
I like to joke about Bush’s limited intellectual abilities, but is it possible that the president is that unaware of what actually happened in Iraq just last year?
Keep in mind, Bush said in July that Hussein refused to allow U.N. weapons inspectors into Iraq, which then led to the war.
“[W]e gave [Saddam Hussein] a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And, therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power,” Bush said.
After this little incident, White House officials said Bush had merely misspoken and that he was aware of the fact that UNMOVIC teams searched throughout suspected weapons cites for three months before the administration told them to leave so we could begin our invasion.
But I’m not terribly convinced, or comforted, by this explanation. This wasn’t a slip of the tongue or a mispronounced word. Bush specifically said Hussein was given an opportunity to welcome inspectors into Iraq but he refused — despite the fact that this was the opposite of what actually happened. A verbal gaffe? I don’t think so.
And yesterday, it sounded like Bush was doing it again. What else could he mean by saying Saddam “did not let us in”?
I have an idea to explain this. Maybe, a year ago, one of Bush’s aides explained to the president that UN inspectors were in Iraq, and when the president didn’t say anything, the aide assumed Bush understood. Now, of course, this same aide realizes that Bush was just bored as hell and his mother told him never to interrupt.