Bush on Iraq civil war: Hard to give assessment 'Living in this beautiful White House'
John Byrne
Raw Story
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
"President Bush said Wednesday he's convinced that the Iranian government is supplying deadly weapons to fighters in Iraq, even if he can't prove the orders came from the highest levels in Tehran," the Associated Press is reporting.
"I can say with certainty that the Quds Force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated IEDs that have harmed our troops," Bush said. "I do not know whether or not the Quds Force was ordered from the top echelons of government."
"But here's my point: either they knew or didn't know, and what matters is is that they're there. What's worse -- that the government knew or that the government didn't know?" he added.
Bush's statements comes on the heels of comments from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Pace, who downplayed claims that Iranian leaders were behind the supplies, but did say that insurgents were getting weapons from Iranian sources.
Asked by an ABC reporter whether he thought Iraq was roiled by civil war, Bush said, "It's hard for me living in this beautiful White House to give you an assessment, a first hand assessment. I haven't been there. You have, I haven't. But I do talk to people who are and people whose judgment I trust and they would not qualify it as that. There are others who think it is."
Huffington Post has the video from CNN.
MORE....
Q Sir, we've now learned through sworn testimony that at least three members of your administration other than Scooter Libby leaked Valerie Plame's identity to the media. None of these three is known to be under investigation. Without commenting on the Libby trial, then, can you tell us whether you authorized any of these three to do that --
PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm not going to talk about it.
Q -- or were they authorized without your permission?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah, thanks, Pete. I'm not going to talk about any of it.
Q They're not under investigation, though, sir.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Peter, not going to talk about any of it.
Q How about pardons, sir? Many people are asking whether you might pardon somebody --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Not going to talk about it, Peter. (Subdued laughter.) Would you like to think of another question? Being the kind man that I am, I will recycle you. (Laughter.) John.
Q Thank you, Mr. --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Do you like that one -- (inaudible)? Yeah.
Q (Off mike.)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Recycling him. (Chuckles.)
Q That took care of one of my questions as well, sir. But -- (laughter) --
PRESIDENT BUSH: If that's the case, sit down. (Laughter.) Next question. (Chuckles.)
AP's first filing did not include Pace's comments.
Excerpts:
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More important, Bush said in his first news conference of the year, is protecting U.S. troops against the lethal new threat. "I'm going to do something about it," Bush said.
U.S. officials have said that Iran helped on attacks on troops in Iraq, an assertion denied by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Meanwhile, Bush shrugged off congressional debate on a resolution opposing his Iraq policy, noting that the measure was nonbinding and mostly symbolic. But he said U.S. troops are counting on lawmakers to provide them the funds they need to win.
