Speaking Friday at The Saban Forum for Middle East Policy, President Bush defended his Middle East policies, claiming that region is a “freer, more hopeful, and more promising place” than when he took office.
He added:
“It is true, as I have said many times, that Saddam Hussein was not connected to the 9/11 attacks. The decision to remove Saddam from power cannot be viewed in isolation from 9/11. In a world where terrorists armed with box cutters had just killed nearly 3,000 of our people, America had to decide whether we could tolerate a sworn enemy that acted belligerently, that supported terror, and that intelligence agencies around the world believed had weapons of mass destruction.”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
