Wonderful quotes from The Prez...

[DeltAlum]

From Brian William's interview with President Bush on NBC Nightly News...

Bush said that he's probably to blame for creating the "myth" that he doesn't read newspapers.

"But it's a myth to think I don't know what's going on. And it's a myth to think that I'm not aware that there is opinions that don't agree with mine. Because I'm fully aware of that."

Bush told Williams that he reads a newspaper every day; that he gets more news from aides; that he sees protests on the streets when he travels but they're "smaller than they used to be"

When meeting with the families (of dead soldiers), Bush said, "I try to be patient and absorb the anguish of a family that's just mourning."

Asked whether he agreed that the war in Iraq was an "elective" war, Bush said, "troops don't move unless I give the order. So, from that sense it was elective. I mean, I could have said, 'No, we'll try to, you know, hope for the best with Saddam Hussein.'

"Remember, at the time we didn't know the facts on the ground. We -- everybody thought the guy had weapons of mass destruction. Everybody knew that he'd used weapons of mass destruction and had provided safe haven for terrorists. I mean, those were facts. Whether or not it had to happen is -- it didn't have to happen since a human being made the decision. Whether or not it needed to happen, I'm still convinced it needed to happen."

As for Vice President Cheny's claim that Coalition forces would be welcomed as "liberators" in Iraq. "I think we are welcomed," Bush said, "but it was not a peaceful welcome."

(DA note -- Huh?)