Czuch: Wow... enhanced interrorgation (sp) of prisoners is an achievement.... Rejecting a treaty that pretty much now he and his admin say is correct in terms that they are 90%+ sure that the reasons behind the treaty were well founded now.

.... What a great Republican site you found Czuch, but can you find a neutral one, not Repub or Liberal?

(V): You guys asked for a list... didnt say it had to come from someone who hates bush?

Czuch: ah ha but you called us all doubters......hence the reaction you got.........LOL

Czuch: I thought it was pretty classless for Bush to snub Helen Thomas in his final press conf today.At 88 she is the dean of White House reporters,he ignored her raised hand,.........stay classy GW

Jim Dandy: There is a history there, between the two of them, and she blew it awhile ago as far as getting him to answer any of her questions, it all her own fault and it has more to do with her class than his.....

Czuch: It's sad when politicians lose sight of the fact reporters are there to report to the people.Thomas asked him questions he didn't like,so Bush basically thumbed his nose to the people wanting those answers.

Jim Dandy: Not true... she asked and he tried to answer, she just doesnt like the answer she was getting...


Reporters also lose sight of the fact that they are there to REPORT, not make the news, she is a typical "left wing biased news media" referred to often here, who is first and foremost a Bush hater! She asked then interrupted him.. he is the president for christ sakes, she is the one showing absolutly no respect, why should he let her even in the room?

Jim Dandy: Helen Thomas Asks President Bush Why He Went to War
Thomash3-22

At the White House Tuesday, veteran correspondent Helen Thomas took President Bush to task on his reasons for invading Iraq. It was the first time Bush had called on Thomas, known as the "First Lady of the American Press", in three years. [includes rush transcript]

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* White House press conference, March 21, 2006

Rush Transcript
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
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AMY GOODMAN: We return to President Bush's news conference. Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas asked President Bush what some analysts called the most direct questioning he's ever received on his reasons for invading Iraq.

HELEN THOMAS: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet—your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth—what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil—quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I think your premise, in all due respect to your question and to you as a lifelong journalist, is that, you know, I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect—

HELEN THOMAS: Everything—

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Hold on for a second, please.

HELEN THOMAS:—everything I've heard—

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Excuse me, excuse me. No president wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true. My attitude about the defense of this country changed on September the 11th. We—when we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people. Our foreign policy changed on that day, Helen. You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy, but we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And I'm never going to forget it. And I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people that we will do everything in our power to protect our people.

Part of that meant to make sure that we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy. And that's why I went into Iraq—hold on for a second—

HELEN THOMAS: They didn't do anything to you or to our country.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Look—excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. They did. The Taliban provided safe haven for al-Qaeda. That's where al-Qaeda trained—

HELEN THOMAS: I'm talking about Iraq—

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Helen, excuse me. That's where—Afghanistan provided safe haven for al-Qaeda. That's where they trained. That's where they plotted. That's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.

I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, 'Disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences'—

HELEN THOMAS:—go to war—

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:—and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it.

AMY GOODMAN: That was President Bush answering Helen Thomas at the White House on Tuesday. Commonly referred to as the "First Lady of the Press, Helen Thomas is the most senior member of the White House Press Corps. She has served as a White House correspondent for some 57 years and has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. It was the fist time President Bush has called on Helen Thomas in three years.