# 60 Minutes Bush interview 1/14/07 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 15, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017 "2007-01-15T01:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/1 "2007-01-15T01:57:25Z")
I’m not the most politically minded. Sure, I listen to NPR and read straight dope, but I don’t actively follow politics. However, when channel flipping I stopped on the 60 Minutes interview with the President tonight. I’ve never watched an entire one of his speeches, but this somehow captured my attention. I believed him. I can’t stand his administration. I’m fairly democratic when it comes down to it. But somehow tonight, I actually felt he was 100% honest. He claimed he didn’t watch the entire Sadam execution video because he didn’t want to see Sadam die. He admitted to being wrong on the WMD thing, as well as how that made him feel. He just struck me, for the first time ever, as being… “human”, the one quality I admire in leaders. I have more, but this should be enough to get the ball rolling. What did everyone else think? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/2 "2007-01-15T02:11:36Z")
Is this where he said “I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude”? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/3 "2007-01-15T02:56:52Z")
I think this post belongs in GD or The Pit, and since it’s not there, I got nothing more to say. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/4 "2007-01-15T03:15:37Z")
Feel free to have a mod change it. I looked at GD, and figured that since it was on TV it belonged in CS. The pit though? I didn’t include nearly enough curse words for that. And don’t the Iraqi people owe us? Of course they owe us. We desposed of their dictator who murdered thousands of their ethnic minorities I’m generally against the whole war because their situation was none of our business, but since we made it our business we did do some good. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/5 "2007-01-15T08:55:56Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Feel free to have a mod change it. I looked at GD, and figured that since it was on TV it belonged in CS. The pit though? I didn’t include nearly enough curse words for that. And don’t the Iraqi people owe us? Of course they owe us. We desposed of their dictator who murdered thousands of their ethnic minorities I’m generally against the whole war because their situation was none of our business, but since we made it our business we did do some good. [/QUOTE] Generally I don’t think ethnic majorities care when ethnic minorities are killed. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/6 "2007-01-15T09:28:42Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Feel free to have a mod change it. I looked at GD, and figured that since it was on TV it belonged in CS. The pit though? I didn’t include nearly enough curse words for that. And don’t the Iraqi people owe us? Of course they owe us. We desposed of their dictator who murdered thousands of their ethnic minorities I’m generally against the whole war because their situation was none of our business, but since we made it our business we did do some good. [/QUOTE] It was none of our business, but they owe us anyway for our intervention? That don’ make no sense, man. If you interfere in something that you do not have a right to interfere in, then no matter what the consequences of your interference, you can not create a debt thereby. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/7 "2007-01-15T09:55:38Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] He claimed he didn’t watch the entire Sadam execution video because he didn’t want to see Sadam die. [/QUOTE] I didn’t watch the interview, but this tidbit struck me. Am I the only one who finds this a bit disconcerting? Part of me feels like the President has a duty to see things like this, as a matter of record at least. I realize our involvement in the trial and execution is technically minimal, but in a way I compare it to him refusing to watch footage of soldiers dying. The guy sending people to war shouldn’t be allowed to turn away from the ugly aspects. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/8 "2007-01-15T13:18:27Z")
Re: the OP… It has often been said by people in the press, even by those who most ardently disagree with his policies, that in one-on-one conversations, he is personable and a good listener. In fact, that’s what Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi) said when she travelled with Bush for about a year during his first primary campaign. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/9 "2007-01-15T13:58:17Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Feel free to have a mod change it. I looked at GD, and figured that since it was on TV it belonged in CS. The pit though? I didn’t include nearly enough curse words for that. And don’t the Iraqi people owe us? Of course they owe us. We desposed of their dictator who murdered thousands of their ethnic minorities I’m generally against the whole war because their situation was none of our business, but since we made it our business we did do some good. [/QUOTE] I didn’t see the interview, but I have to chime in on this. The Iraqis do not owe us anything. We have taken a nation that was suffering mightily and made it suffer some more. Our hubris and incompetence has caused the death of thousands more people than would have died under Saddam. Under Hussein, at least they had functioning hospitals, schools and electricty. At least you could go to work in the morning and come home to a family that hadn’t been murdered in your absence. If you were an average schmo who kept his head down and didn’t get involved in politics, you could have a predictable life, now, all bets are off. Don’t believe me? I am in Baghdad. I’ve been working here since the summer of 2003 and I have witnessed first hand the misery the US has caused. This weekend one Iraqi colleague lost two friends to violence, another had her cousin murdered, a sniper killed a guy a block from my office, and shot up our complex and this is just one weekend for a handful of people on one block of the city. Iraqis owe us? Please. We owe the Iraqis a heartfelt apology. Every Iraqi who wants to immigrate to the US should be given a visa and a plane ticket. We have completely screwed over a nation of 26 million people and now we are going to just wander off like a fat retarded child who has stomped on an ant hill. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/10 "2007-01-15T17:53:48Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] He just struck me, for the first time ever, as being… “human”, the one quality I admire in leaders. [/QUOTE] I’m sure this is the entire reason he did the interview–to build public support. He’s got a low approval rating right now and he is facing a lot of resistance (from both the Congress and the public) to his plan to “surge” 21,000 more troops to Iraq. I think he (or his staff) has realized that he can’t hide away on his ranch this time. He’s got to try to earn enough trust and respect back so that he can get some popular support for his plan. It’s a total PR move. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/11 "2007-01-15T17:57:37Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] And don’t the Iraqi people owe us? Of course they owe us. We desposed of their dictator who murdered thousands of their ethnic minorities [/QUOTE] Yeah, they owe use BIG for plunging their country into chaos and civil war. Iraqi women especially owe us for allowing religious fanatics to take away their rights. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/12 "2007-01-15T19:21:44Z")
Since this is less about television as art and pretty much just about politics, I’ll move this over to GD. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/13 "2007-01-15T19:25:25Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] I didn’t see the interview, but I have to chime in on this. The Iraqis do not owe us anything. We have taken a nation that was suffering mightily and made it suffer some more. Our hubris and incompetence has caused the death of thousands more people than would have died under Saddam. Under Hussein, at least they had functioning hospitals, schools and electricty. At least you could go to work in the morning and come home to a family that hadn’t been murdered in your absence. If you were an average schmo who kept his head down and didn’t get involved in politics, you could have a predictable life, now, all bets are off. Don’t believe me? I am in Baghdad. I’ve been working here since the summer of 2003 and I have witnessed first hand the misery the US has caused. This weekend one Iraqi colleague lost two friends to violence, another had her cousin murdered, a sniper killed a guy a block from my office, and shot up our complex and this is just one weekend for a handful of people on one block of the city. Iraqis owe us? Please. We owe the Iraqis a heartfelt apology. Every Iraqi who wants to immigrate to the US should be given a visa and a plane ticket. We have completely screwed over a nation of 26 million people and now we are going to just wander off like a fat retarded child who has stomped on an ant hill. [/QUOTE] This post should be read early and often. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/14 "2007-01-15T19:39:55Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] And don’t the Iraqi people owe us? Of course they owe us. We desposed of their dictator who murdered thousands of their ethnic minorities I’m generally against the whole war because their situation was none of our business, but since we made it our business we did do some good. [/QUOTE] I think you mean ‘we disposed of the dictator we imposed on them, and who murdered thousands of them using weapons we sold him.’ As for ‘doing some good’, do you mean the thousands of Iraqis who have died since the US invaded? Or the virtual collapse of the cities into sectarian areas, where straying into another religious area is pretty much a death sentence? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/15 "2007-01-15T19:44:32Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] We have completely screwed over a nation of 26 million people and now we are going to just wander off like a fat retarded child who has stomped on an ant hill. [/QUOTE] This is probably the most lethal dose of invective I’ve ever seen on the SDMB outside of the Pit. Wow, my contact lenses just smoked, shriveled up and stuck to my eyeballs. :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/16 "2007-01-15T19:48:14Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] This is probably the most lethal dose of invective I’ve ever seen on the SDMB outside of the Pit. Wow, my contact lenses just smoked, shriveled up and stuck to my eyeballs. :eek: 😃 [/QUOTE] Likewise. That’s the meanest assessment of the war I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I think it’s also one of the most accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Spezza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Spezza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spezza)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/17 "2007-01-15T19:53:59Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] We have completely screwed over a nation of 26 million people and now we are going to just wander off like a fat retarded child who has stomped on an ant hill. [/QUOTE] This is what should be read over and over right now. The United States of America needs to stop talking about how to get out of Iraq, they need to start talking about what the fuck made them think they belonged there in the first place. All this talk of getting out of Iraq; the United States of America destroyed it, you fix it. I would propose either you fix Iraq or you hand over Bush to be tried for war crimes in Brussels. You held the Nazi party responsible for WWII, the world should hold the Republican party responsible for Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/18 "2007-01-15T20:56:36Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] I can’t stand his administration. I’m fairly democratic when it comes down to it. But somehow tonight, I actually felt he was 100% honest. [/quote] Am I the only person wondering how many hours of interviewing had to be edited down to form a credible segment? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/19 "2007-01-15T21:54:27Z")
I, too, was struck dumb by the shit brained arrogance of the “gratitude” remark. Point of fact, I Pitted the stinking thing. Especially in the coy context of blaming American disaffection with this turd-infested fever swamp on that ingratitude, as if somehow the rising tide of disgust were based even in part on Iraqi “ingratitude”. Perhaps he is still waiting for that statue in his honor to be erected and garlanded with flowers? As always with The Leader, you cannot be certain if he is cynical and callous enough to offer what he knows to be deep-dish batshit pizza, or if he simply stupid enough to believe it. And, once again, it points out the woeful lack of a “puking yer guts out!” smilie. (Aside: I heartily endorse previous kudos directed at our Senior Baghdad Correspondent, **Madmonk**. Keep your head down, stay well, and be not a hero, you have a more important task: you are a Witness. For whatever the value, the prayers of an agnostic are with you.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017/20 "2007-01-15T22:17:10Z")
> **[The Mess | Peter W. Galbraith](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2006/03/09/the-mess/)** > > For two months, the Coalition and the Mahdi Army fought pitched battles around Shiite Islam's holiest shrines. Iraq's senior Shiite clerics and > [@](#): > > …In Bremer’s account, the President was seriously interested in one issue: whether the leaders of the government that followed the CPA would publicly thank the United States. But there is no evidence that he cared about the specific questions that counted: Would the new prime minister have a broad base of support? Would he be able to bridge Iraq’s ethnic divisions? What political values should he have? Instead, Bush had only one demand: ‘It’s important to have someone who’s willing to stand up and thank the American people for their sacrifice in liberating Iraq.’ According to Bremer, he came back to this single point three times in the same meeting. Similarly, Ghazi al-Yawar, an obscure Sunni Arab businessman, became Bush’s candidate for president of Iraq’s interim government because, as Bremer reports, Bush had 'been favorably impressed with his open thanks to the Coalition… (violent upchuck smilie goes here) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-bush-interview-1-14-07/388017.md?page=2)