Helen Thomas On Bush

Bush Recalls No Mistakes In Presidency
Let Me Help: Ill-Advised Invasion Of Iraq, For One

Asked about any parallel with Vietnam, Bush dismissed such a comparison, saying it would send the wrong message to the troops and the wrong message to the enemy. That sure reminds me of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.

Even more reminiscent was Bush's constant refrain: "We are going to stay the course." It was 1967 and 1970 all over again.

Bush wants us to forget the promises that his administration made before the war that happy Iraqis would welcome the U.S. military invaders as liberators.

And he shamelessly continues his faltering effort to depict the invasion of Iraq as somehow connected to the war on terrorism.

In doing so, Bush is trying to get off the hook for failing to keep his eye on the ball, which would have been to focus on the fight in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Iraq -- which should have been a sideshow -- has dominated his radar screen since he became president.

Both Clarke and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill have attested to Bush's determination to get rid of Saddam Hussein from day one.

It was a policy in search of justification. And his ongoing attempts to connect the 9-11 tragedy with Saddam Hussein would be laughable if they weren't so blatantly dishonest.