George Bush has exploited the suffering of
September 11 and turned back decades of efforts to make the world a
safer place, the former president Jimmy Carter says in an interview
with the Guardian published today. Attacking Mr Bush and Tony Blair
over Iraq, Mr Carter calls the war "a completely unjust adventure based
on misleading statements". He also criticises Mr Bush for "lack of
effort" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and accuses him of
abandoning nuclear non-proliferation initiatives championed by five
presidents. The US "suffered, in 9/11, a terrible and shocking attack
... and George Bush has been adroit at exploiting that attack, and he
has elevated himself, in the consciousness of many Americans, to a
heroic commander-in-chief, fighting a global threat against America,"
Mr Carter says. "He's repeatedly played that card, and to some degree
quite successfully. I think that success has dissipated. I don't know
if it's dissipating fast enough to affect the election. We'll soon
know." [more ]
"Well, I had just been told by (White House Chief of Staff) Andrew Card
that America was under attack. And I was collecting my thoughts," Bush
said. "I think what's important is how I reacted when I realized
America was under attack. It didn't take me long to figure out we were
at war." Bush
on Larry King (CNN) defending his lengthy pause in a Florida
classroom when he was first told of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the
United States. [more] Pictured above: Bush posted & chilling on September 11th. Chief
of Staff Andrew Card came over and whispered in Bush's ear, "A second
plane hit the second tower. America is under attack." What did the
Commander in Chief do? Nothing. He sat there. He sat for well over 5
minutes, doing nothing while 3,000 people were dying and the attacks
were still in progress. To SEE it go [here ]