Quotes of the Morning: Conversations with Fearless Leader

“At this moment, two of the five additional U.S. Army brigades we are sending for this mission are operating in Baghdad. A third brigade is now moving from Kuwait, and will be fully operational in Baghdad in the coming weeks. And the remaining two brigades will deploy in April and May. It will be early June before all U.S. forces dedicated to the operation are in place. So this operation is still in its beginning stages.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“But sir, what about concerns that we can’t win in a civil war in Iraq and that we are just throwing more and more of our military into harm’s way with no hope of victory?”
-Skippy

“Obviously, I listened to these concerns prior to deciding to reinforce. This is precisely the debate we had inside the White House: Can we succeed? I know there are some who have basically said it is impossible to succeed. I strongly disagree with those people. I believe not only can we succeed, I know we must succeed.
And so I decided to, at the recommendation of military commanders, decided to send reinforcements.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“Really? They recommended the surge? Funny… I don’t remember that part.”
-Skippy

“The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate.”
-Washington Post, December 19, 2006

“But you do have some super-secret strategy for all of this, right?”
-Skippy

“The whole strategy is to give the Iraqi government time to reconcile, time to unify the country, time to respond to the demands of the 12 million people that voted.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“Seriously? Your entire strategy for winning the war is to wait it out until the civil war ends? Shouldn’t we be trying to make sure that the Iraqis are at least attempting to end the conflict? I mean, it seems that they aren’t really doing their part to meet their obligations.”
-Skippy

“You've said the Iraqis haven't met any obligations; I would disagree with your characterization. They have said that they will send Iraqi forces into Baghdad to take the lead, along with U.S. troops, to bring security to Baghdad, and they've done that. They said they'd name a commander for Baghdad; they have done that. They said they'd send up -- they'd send troops out into the neighborhoods to clear and hold and then build; they're doing that. They send they would send a budget up that would spend a considerable amount of their money on reconstruction; they have done that. They're working on an oil law that is in progress. “
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“Um.. I was talking about the whole ‘civil war’ thing.. I really don’t know what the oil law has to do with anything.”
-Skippy

“As a matter of fact, I spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday about progress on the oil law. He reminded me that sometimes the legislature doesn't do what the executive branch wants them to do. I reminded him, I understand what he's talking about. “
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“Enough with the oil law.. What does that have to do with the military mission in Iraq?”
-Skippy

“But, nevertheless, I strongly agree that we've got to continue to make it clear to the Iraqi government that this is -- the solution to Iraq, an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself, is more than a military mission -- precisely the reason why I sent more troops into Baghdad, to be able to provide some breathing space for this democratically-elected government to succeed.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“So you sent more military troops into Iraq because this is more than a military mission? Sir, that doesn’t make a bit of sense.”
-Skippy

“And it's hard work, and I understand it's hard work.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“Yes sir.. Hard work with no time off for good behavior. I just wish that Congress had your work ethic sir.”
-Skippy

“They need to come off their vacation, get a bill to my desk, and if it's got strings and mandates and withdrawals and pork I'll veto it. And then we can get down to the business of getting this thing done. And we can do it quickly. It doesn't have to take a lot of time. And we can get the bill -- get the troops funded, and we go about our business of winning this war.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 3, 2007

“Yes sir. When Congress went on Easter vacation without passing the bill it was a serious neglect of their duties. They have a job. They can’t just ignore that.”
-Skippy

“President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening to clear brush, visit with family and friends, and tend to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.”
-Washington Post, August 2, 2005

“On Tuesday, President Bush called an abrupt end to his five-week ‘working vacation’ at his Texas ranch and announced he would return to the White House two days early to oversee federal response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. ‘These are trying times for the people of these communities,’ Bush said Tuesday during a visit to a naval base in San Diego. ‘We have a lot of work to do.’”
-MSNBC, September 2, 2005

“President Bush has shown that he can be empathetic, sensitive and decisive. But those qualities eluded him for days after Hurricane Katrina, and the lapse could become a defining moment of his White House tenure.”
-USA Today, September 9, 2005