George Bush wishes to correct our mistakenly accurate impression

Just in case you missed this:

President George Bush says he regrets the tough talk he used during the Iraq war, wrongly painting himself as a warmonger.

In an exclusive interview with Britain's The Times, he expressed regret at the divisions over the war and said he was troubled by how his country had been misunderstood.

"I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric," he told The Times.

"Phrases such as 'bring them on' or 'dead or alive' indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace," he said.

Yes, I can see how those phrases might give some people the impression that Bush is, you know, not a man of peace.  Just like they might also be misled by this:

"Kick ass!" [Bush] said, echoing Colin Powell's tough talk. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can't send that message. It's an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal.

"There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!'"

Huh.  Ambiguous.  I admit I can't make it out one way or the other.  And then there are the hundreds of thousands of dead in Iraq and Afghanistan who'd still be alive today if not for the wars Bush has waged on them and their countries.  It sure does paint a mixed picture.  Perplexing, really.  I can certainly see why some people might miss the nuance here and leap to the facile but—we now know—deeply mistaken conclusion that George Bush is not a man of peace.

My favorite part of the article: when they quote Bush quoting Bush saying "Bring them on."  I don't believe that George Bush would be capable of pronouncing the full word "them" in that sentence even under the threat of forced removal of his left testicle—any more than he can successfully manage his way through "nuclear."

( "Kill them!" quote via. )

Comments

[Save the Oocytes]

I for one disagree. There is not a series of moments! If there were a series of moments, I argue that this would not be one of them!

[Thomas Daulton]

Once again, it's all about perception management. In that respect, if no other, Bush has been well coached. Remember the simple rule: when WE blow people and families into ragged smithereens, for whatever reason at all, it's "defense" and so therefore it is not violence. If only the rest of the world could understand that! When THEY blow OUR people, soldiers or families into ragged smithereens -- then, violence is a bad thing and must be deplored by everyone.