Excerpt below from President Bush, Tony Blair Hold a Joint News Conference CQ Transcripts Wire/Washington Post 07/28/06.
This is the part where Bush went off in a way that really makes you wonder to what extent he believes what he saying or he's just starying rhetorically on message to what Karl Rove told him in preparation:
QUESTION: Mr. President, both of you, I'd like to ask you about the big picture that you're discussing.
Mr. President, three years ago, you argued that an invasion of Iraq would create a new stage of Arab-Israeli peace. And yet today there is an Iraqi prime minister who has been sharply critical of Israel.
Arab governments, despite your arguments, who first criticized Hezbollah, have now changed their tune. Now they're sharply critical of Israel.
And despite from both of you warnings to Syria and Iran to back off support from Hezbollah, effectively, Mr. President, your words are being ignored.
QUESTION: So what has happened to America's clout in this region that you've committed yourself to transform?
BUSH: It's an interesting period because, instead of having foreign policies based upon trying to create a sense of stability, we have a foreign policy that addresses the root causes of violence and instability.
For a while, American foreign policy was just, "Let's hope everything is calm" - kind of, managed calm. But beneath the surface brewed a lot of resentment and anger that was manifested on September the 11th.
And so we've taken a foreign policy that says: On the one hand, we will protect ourselves from further attack in the short run by being aggressive in chasing down the killers and bringing them to justice.
BUSH: And make no mistake: They're still out there, and they would like to harm our respective peoples because of what we stand for.
In the long term, to defeat this ideology - and they're bound by an ideology - you defeat it with a more hopeful ideology called freedom.
And, look, I fully understand some people don't believe it's possible for freedom and democracy to overcome this ideology of hatred. I understand that. I just happen to believe it is possible. And I believe it will happen. [This is a favorite Bush rhetorical device, to refer to unnamed critics who supposedly are saying something, to which he then expresses his own, more appealing attitude; normally, as also in this cae, these alleged criticisms don't sound much like what his actual critics are saying about his policies.]
And so what you're seeing is, you know, a clash of governing styles.
For example, you know, the notion of democracy beginning to emerge scares the ideologues, the totalitarians, those who want to impose their vision. It just frightens them.
And so they respond. They've always been violent.
You know, I hear this amazing kind of editorial thought that says, all of a sudden, Hezbollah's become violent because we're promoting democracy. They have been violent for a long period of time. Or Hamas? [He's just finished saying that the adherence of the Evil Ideology react against freedom and democracy because it "just frightens them". Here he is scornfully refuting some "editorial thought" that supposedly says Hizbullah has become violent "because we're promoting democracy".]
One reason why the Palestinians still suffer is because there are militants who refuse to accept a Palestinian state based upon democratic principles.
BUSH: And so what the world is seeing is a desire by this country and our allies to defeat the ideology of hate with an ideology that has worked and that brings hope.
And one of the challenges, of course, is to convince people that Muslims would like to be free, that there's other people other than people in Britain and America that would like to be free in the world. [Like Germany, France, Canada, Australia, maybe? Plus a few dozen other functioning democracies?]
There's this kind of almost - kind of a weird kind of elitism that says well maybe - maybe certain people in certain parts of theworld shouldn't be free; maybe it's best just to let them sit in these tyrannical societies.
And our foreign policy rejects that concept. And we don't accept it. And so we're working.
BUSH: And this is - I said the other day, when these attacks took place, I said it should be a moment of clarity for people to see the stakes in the 21st century.
I mean, now there's an unprovoked attack on a democracy. Why? I happen to believe because progress is being made toward democracies. [Now he's back to the notion that Hizbullah attacked Israel because Israel is a democracy. Or because Lebanon is a democracy. Or both. Or something.]
And I believe that - I also believe that Iran would like to exert additional influence in the region; a theocracy would like to spread its influence using surrogates.
And so I'm as determined as ever to continue fostering a foreign policy based upon liberty. And I think it's going to work unless we lose our nerve and quit. And this government isn't going to quit.
QUESTION: But I asked about the loss of American influence, and are you worried about that?
BUSH: Well, we went to the G-8 and worked with our allies and got a remarkable statement on what took place. We're working to get a United Nations resolution on Iran. We're working to have a Palestinian state.
But the reason why you asked the question is because terrorists are trying to stop that progress. And we'll ultimately prevail, because their - they have - their ideology is so dark and so dismal that when people really think about it, it'll be rejected.
BUSH: They just got a different tool to use than we do: They kill innocent lives to achieve objectives. That's what they do. And they're good. They get on the TV screens and they get people to ask questions about, well, you know, this, that or the other. I mean, they're able to kind of say to people: Don't come and bother us, because we will kill you.
And my attitude is that now's the time to be firm. And we've got a great weapon on our side, and that is freedom and liberty. And it's got - those two concepts have got the capacity to defeat ideologies of hate. (my emphasis)
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