Triumphalism Amid the Wreckage

"The two veteran diplomats wrote that the new administration of President-elect Barack Obama confronts a perilous situation in the Middle East.

"'Iran's pursuit of nuclear capability and regional dominance, a strained U.S. military tied down in Iraq, a war that is going badly in Afghanistan, hostility toward U.S. involvement in the region -- all create a dangerous, complicated and urgent policy environment,' they wrote."

In an interview on Friday with Nadia Bilbassy-Charters of Saudi-owned MBC TV, Bush once again refused to acknowledge that he had done anything wrong. Quite the contrary.

When Bilbassy-Charters asked if he'd had any second thoughts, Bush replied: "I'm sure there will be. I mean, there's been some disappointments."

Q. "Like what?"

Bush: "Well, like, Abu Ghraib was a terrible disappointment. And admittedly, I wasn't there on the site, but I was the Commander-in-Chief of a military where these disgraceful acts took place that sent the absolute wrong image about America and our military.

"You know, parts of Iraq -- it's taken longer than I thought it would. On the other hand, I am pleased to see a multiethnic society begin to emerge. I talked to the leaders of Iraq yesterday and today and congratulated them on doing some hard work. And I love to hear their spirit in their voice.

"And so I'm confident history will say, oh, Bush could have done it better here, or, Bush could have done it better there. But I think from the strategic point of view, I'm confident that the idea of moving liberty in the region, a two-state solution to help the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the liberation of Iraq, and the follow-up with -- to help the Iraqis realize their sovereignty -- a strong push-back against Iran -- I believe when people objectively analyze this administration, they'll say, well, I see now what he was trying to do."

Asked if the Iraq war could have been averted, Bush replied: "We tried to avert it. I know people say, oh, George Bush likes to use the military. . . .

"I firmly believe the choice was Saddam Hussein's to make, and he made a fateful choice. . . . "

Q. "Was it worth it?"

Bush: "Absolutely. I believe a Middle East with Saddam Hussein in power today would be different, much different than the one today. I think you'd see a man with a lot of oil wealth willing to use terrorist connections to try to compete, for example, with Hezbollah. . . . "