False premises. Errors in judgment. Personal responsibility. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes.
Those were the words and phrases that filled last night’s hourlong prime-time press conference as a gaggle of White House correspondents finally got to ask President Bush what they have quietly been asking in the cramped press quarters just off the Oval Office.
Throughout, Mr. Bush explained his step-by-step decision-making process and eschewed the second-guessing eased by hindsight. But he never apologized for taking America to war in Iraq or failing to prevent the terrorist attacks of September 11, instead assessing the blame to “the person responsible for the attacks … Osama bin Laden. That’s who’s responsible for killing Americans.”
ABC News’ Terry Moran asked the president about his prewar contention that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. “How do you explain to Americans how you got that so wrong?” he asked, adding that some charge he “took this nation to war on the basis of what have turned out to be a series of false premises.”
David Gregory — whom Mr. Bush has needled ever since the NBC News reporter asked a question in French to French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac — said many criticize the president because “you never admit a mistake.” He followed with a query about whether he ever made any “errors in judgment.”
Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times asked if he felt “any sense of personal responsibility for September 11th.” John Dickerson of Time asked the president “what would your biggest mistake be?”
Mr. Bush answered all questions as he has in the past: Iraq’s WMDs — known to exist because Saddam used them repeatedly — may still be found. “They could still be there. They could be hidden.”
“But I still know Saddam Hussein was a threat. And the world is better off without Saddam Hussein,” Mr. Bush said firmly.
Mr. Dickerson’s question about his “biggest mistake” appeared to catch the president off guard.
“I wish you’d have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it,” he said, drawing laughter for the first time in the tense East Room.
“I’m sure historians will look back and say, ’Gosh, he could’ve done it better this way or that way.’ You know, I just …” he said, breaking off, then pausing for several seconds. “I’m sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hasn’t yet.”
Later, he clarified the record, saying: “I don’t want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I’m confident I have.”
The president said he is unconcerned if his actions in the war against terror cost him his job.
“You know, that’s, I guess, if you put it into a political context, that’s the kind of thing the voters will decide next November. … I hope today you’ve got a sense of my conviction about what we’re doing. If you don’t, maybe I need to learn to communicate better.”
But he clearly communicated a prediction about the outcome of the election.
“I don’t plan on losing my job.”
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