what a load of 'bollocks'

[berrywoman]

:rolleyes:

 

 

Bush Says Iraqi Leaders Will Want U.S. Forces to Stay to Help

By ELISABETH BUMILLER, DAVID E. SANGER and RICHARD W. STEVENSON

 

Published: January 28, 2005

 

 

ASHINGTON, Jan. 27 - President Bush said in an interview on Thursday that he would withdraw American forces from Iraq if the new government that is elected on Sunday asked him to do so, but that he expected Iraq's first democratically elected leaders would want the troops to remain as helpers, not as occupiers.

 

 

"I've, you know, heard the voices of the people that presumably will be in a position of responsibility after these elections, although you never know," Mr. Bush said. "But it seems like most of the leadership there understands that there will be a need for coalition troops at least until Iraqis are able to fight."

 

He did not say who he expected would emerge victorious. But asked if, as a matter of principle, the United States would pull out of Iraq at the request of a new government, he said: "Absolutely. This is a sovereign government. They're on their feet."

 

Some members of the administration had made similar pledges, but this was the first time Mr. Bush did so.

 

In a 40-minute conversation in the Oval Office with correspondents from The New York Times, Mr. Bush, seated in front of a crackling fire, ranged across a number of issues that he is expected to discuss in his State of the Union address next week.

 

Yet Iraq was clearly foremost in his mind, and he said that with the coming election, "We're watching history being made, history that will change the world." That has been Mr. Bush's message in a series of interviews he has given in the days before and since his Inaugural Address on Jan. 20.

 

He later drew Iraq into a broader plan for democracy in the Middle East.

 

"I think two of the great ironies of history will be that there will be a Palestinian state and a democratic Iraq showing the way forward for people who desperately want to be free," the president said. He particularly praised Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian leader, as a man who has "the will of the people with him, and that inspires leaders."

 

On domestic policy, Mr. Bush sidestepped a question on whether he agreed with a Florida law barring gay men and women from adopting children, saying he was not aware of it. But he said that while "children can receive love from gay couples," he believed that "studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman."

 

He said that his plan to overhaul Social Security would be a centerpiece of his State of the Union address and acknowledged that his approach would demand politically difficult decisions of Congress.

 

He also suggested, three days after telling a March for Life rally that he could see the "glimmerings" of a nation in which every child is "welcomed in life and protected in law," that he was resigned for now to the continued availability of abortion and that his role would be to show moral leadership rather than advance specific anti-abortion initiatives.

 

"I think the goal ought to be to convince people to value life," Mr. Bush said. "But I fully understand our society is divided on the issue and that there will be abortions. That's reality. It seems like to me my job is to convince people to make right choices in life, to understand there are alternatives to abortion, like adoption, and I will continue to do so."

 

He brushed aside questions about his relationship with the Congressional Black Caucus, which he met with on Wednesday and invited to the White House once in his first term. Asked why the group, now composed of 43 Democratic African-American members of Congress, had received only the single first-term invitation, he responded, "That's just the way it worked out."

 

He said he was working "to put out policies that I think are beneficial to all people, including African-Americans, and will continue to do so."

 

But even while acknowledging that Iraq is at a pivotal point in its history, Mr. Bush appeared far more relaxed than he was in August, when he was last interviewed by The Times, in a changing area off a men's room, during a campaign stop in New mexico.

 

 

source: The New York Times

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/politics/28prexy.html?th

[Albie]

I hate the NY Times, I like the Journal News :smug:

[berrywoman]

how can you hate the NY Times!! they are probably the most unbiased newspaper around!!! :rolleyes: This proves you dont follow politics...

[Albie]

how can you hate the NY Times!! they are probably the most unbiased newspaper around!!! :rolleyes: This proves you dont follow politics...

 

I'm entitled to my own opinion

 

respect it :rolleyes:

[berrywoman]

ahhh shut it you republican.. :laugh3:

 

 

when I referred to the article being bollocks.. I wasnt referring to the paper whilst it came from... I was referring to the President's grand idea of keeping US forces there... :rolleyes:

[Albie]

ahhh shut it you republican.. :laugh3:

 

 

when I referred to the article being bollocks.. I wasnt referring to the paper whilst it came from... I was referring to the President's grand idea of keeping US forces there... :rolleyes:

 

 

wtf, I'm a democrat

 

what are you saying ?

 

remember John Kerry :rolleyes:

[badlydrawngirl]

how can you hate the NY Times!! they are probably the most unbiased newspaper around!!!

 

all newspapers are biased! i hate newspapers, i just look at the pictures now, seriously :dozey: