Really, when did he say that? Your sources please!
Q Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --
THE PRESIDENT: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.
Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.
So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I'm more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.
And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There's going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I'm just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We're tough, we're strong, they're well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.
Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is.
I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.
But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.
And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom.
official white house transcript
You know as well as I that the Intelligence that was presented to all sides disputes that statement at least the WMD's equation. Saddam violated every UN Resolution for over a decade, he targeted our fighter jets that patrolled the no fly zone, the tyrant's own ex-generals gave information of terrorist training camps, he not only paid but increased the reward for palestinian hamas suicide bombers families from $10,000 to $25,000 as payment for bombing Israelis, is that not support of terrorism?
From Meet the press last sunday
Cheney Now Says Saddam Had Nothing To Do With 9/11
MR. RUSSERT: But let’s look at what you told me on that morning of September 16, 2001, when I asked you about Saddam Hussein. Let’s watch.
(Videotape, September 16, 2001):
VICE PRES. CHENEY: At this stage, the focus is over here on al-Qaeda and the most recent events in New York [that is, 9/11]. Saddam Hussein is bottled up at this point.
MR. RUSSERT: Do we have any evidence linking Saddam Hussein or Iraqis to this operation?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No.
(End of videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: You said Saddam Hussein was bottled up.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: And he was not linked in any way to September 11.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: To 9/11.
MR. RUSSERT: And now we have the Select Committee on Intelligence coming out with a report on Friday, it says here, “A declassified report released [Friday] by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence revealed that U.S. intelligence analysts were strongly disputing the alleged links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda while senior Bush administration officials were publicly asserting those links to justify invading Iraq.â€
You said here that it was pretty well confirmed that Atta may have had a meeting in Prague, that that was credible. All the while, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee in January and in June and in September, the CIA was saying that wasn’t the case. And then the president...
VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, let me, let me—on that—well, go ahead.
MR. RUSSERT: No, go ahead.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No, I want a, I want a chance to jump on that.
MR. RUSSERT: OK, but, but you said it was pretty well confirmed that it was credible and now the Senate Intelligence Committee says not true, The CIA was waving you off.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No.
MR. RUSSERT: Any suggestion there was a meeting with Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers, with Iraqi officials?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No....what I told you was exactly what we were receiving at the time. It never said, and I don’t believe I ever said, specifically, that it linked the Iraqis to 9/11. It specifically said he had been in Prague, Mohamed Atta had been in Prague and we didn’t know...
MR. RUSSERT: Well, I asked you, I said, “is there a connection between Saddam and 9/11 on September ‘03†and you said “we don’t know.â€
VICE PRES. CHENEY: (Unintelligible). That’s right.
MR. RUSSERT: So you raised that possibility.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: It was raised by the CIA who passed on the report from the Czech Intelligence Service.
MR. RUSSERT: All right. Now the president has been asked, “What did Iraq have to do with the attack on the World Trade Center?†and he said “nothing.†Do you agree with that?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: I do. So it’s not...
MR. RUSSERT: So it’s case, case closed....
MR. RUSSERT: The bottom line is, the rationale given the American people was that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and he could give those weapons of mass destruction to al-Qaeda and we could have another September 11. And now we read that there is no evidence, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee, of that relationship. You’ve said there’s no involvement. The president says there’s no involvement.
Iraq is a mess no doubt, no one planned for nor expected the insurgencey that would come from syria and iran but if we just pull out and leave the New Iraqi Government which has requested we stay on until they can take full control of the situiation what do think is going to happen?
The same that has been going on there for a thousand years. Mesopotamia is a mess and always been a mess. You cannot instill western morals and values on these people. There is a whole other mind set. While you and I think more of the future, what it will bring and how to improve it. They dwell on issues and wrongs instilled on them in the past. There is little forward thinking and you will never get the three warring faction to rule this place now called Iraq in a civil fair free society.
We have lost 2,666 soldiers and almost 20,000 wounded. Between 40,000 and 50,000 dead Iraq civilians and 400,000,000 billion dollars wasted on a war that had NO cause or effect on 911.
I'll tell you what will happen, that country will fall into total chaos that will make whats happening now look like a school yard fight. The radical islamist will seize control and we will have another terrorist training ground worse than the last. To say this war is not winnable or sustainable is to say all we've done and sacrificed is in vain, it does nothing but hurt troop morale, and it sends our enemy the message they are the Victor.
We are not the romans, nor the english. We are the U.S.A. and we have the most powerful military thats ever been assembled throughout history. We can'not accept anything less than a victory!!!
They proved on 911, having the strongest military doesn't make you safe or free.
We created the insurgency and the training grounds. We are the poster child for the next generation of terrorists in that country. There are UN-winnable conflicts. Sending more money and US soldiers to die in vain is certainly not the answer.
