Following are excerpts of President Bush's responses during The Washington Post's interview Friday aboard Air Force One, as transcribed by the White House:
Looking ahead
I'm looking forward to the inauguration. I'm going to be able to absorb a lot more of the sights, sounds, the drama this time. I think last time I was in awe of the whole moment. Having done it once, if experience is any judge -- the convention experience is any judge about this, I'm really looking forward to kind of being as much a participant and observer at the same time -- a much more heady observer.
I'm excited about the second term. I worked hard to get there and campaigned on some specific issues that I'm looking forward to working with the Congress on. Priorities for the second term: Of course, win the war on terror, spread freedom and democracy. And at home, reform systems that will say that we have recognized we've got problems for future generations that we intend to deal with. One is Social Security; one is the tax system. As well, I'm mindful of the twin deficits we face. The fiscal deficit -- we will address the fiscal deficit in two ways: one, by submitting a budget that will continue to keep the pledge of cutting the deficit in half by five years; and secondly, addressing some of the unfunded liabilities inherent in the fiscal budget.
In terms of the current account deficit, the best way to deal with that is to, one, ensure that currencies around the world are market-driven, not controlled by states; and secondly, at home, is to make America an attractive place for people to take risk, a place to invest.
On an intelligence report calling Iraq a terrorist training ground
The report -- and I welcome these studies -- basically says America must stay on the offense. And there are two ways to stay on the offense. One, use our intelligence services, as well as the intelligence services of friends and allies, to find people and bring them to justice before they hurt us; and secondly, to spread freedom. And it's a -- I think the report was somewhat speculative; this could happen. And I agree. If we're not diligent and firm, there will be pockets of -- parts of the world that become pockets for terrorists to find safe haven and to train. And we have a duty to disrupt that.
Secretary of State Colin L.Powell's assertion that U.S. troops will begin leaving Iraq later this year
The way I would put it is, American troops will be leaving as quickly as possible, but they won't be leaving until we have completed our mission. And part of the mission is to train Iraqis so they can fight the terrorists. And the sooner the Iraqis are prepared -- better prepared, better equipped to fight, the sooner our troops will start coming home.
Accountability for Iraq
Well, we had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 election. And the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me, for which I'm grateful.
Listen, in times of war, things don't go exactly as planned. Some were saying there was no way that Saddam Hussein would be toppled as quickly as we toppled him. Some were saying there would be mass refugee flows and starvation, which didn't happen. My only point is, is that, on a complicated matter such as removing a dictator from power and trying to help achieve democracy, sometimes the unexpected will happen, both good and bad.
And the point is, there has to be a flexible strategy that will enable our commanders on the ground and our diplomats to be able to adjust strategy to meet the needs on the ground, all aiming at an eventual goal, which is a free and democratic Iraq, not in our image, in their image, according to their customs. See, we haven't been -- we've been there -- sovereignty was transferred in June of 2004. So this has been a sovereign nation in its new form for less than a year. I'm optimistic about it, and so are a lot of other people who were there in Iraq -- optimistic about that, being optimistic about the emergence of a free government.
I'm also mindful that it takes a while for democracy to take hold. Witness our own history. We weren't -- we certainly were not the perfect democracy and are [not] yet the perfect democracy. Ours is a constitution that said every man -- a system that said every man was equal, but in fact, every man wasn't equal for a long period of time in our history. The Articles of Confederation were a bumpy period of time. And my only point is, is that I am realistic about how quickly a society that has been dominated by a tyrant can become a democracy. And therefore, I am more patient than some, but also mindful that we've got to get the Iraqis up and running as quickly as possible so they can defeat these terrorists.
