Shamelessly borrowed from Arianna Huffington’s blog, who in turn got it from The Washington Post (free registration required):
Reporting on the press conferences after the G8 summit in Georgia this week, a reporter from the U.S. Gov. funded Arabic language news channel al-Hurra asked Bush if he would be keeping Saddam Hussain’s personal gun.
Saddam’s Gun
By far the most unusual exchange — bordering on the bizarre, really — was about Saddam Hussein’s gun, which Bush keeps in his private study as a souvenir.
Corky Siemaszko writes in the New York Daily News:
“President Bush is hanging onto Saddam Hussein’s gun.
” ‘It’s now the property of the U.S. government,’ he said yesterday.
“That succinct answer was embedded in a convoluted response to a reporter who asked Bush whether he might consider presenting the gun to newly installed Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer as a symbolic gift.
“Bush began his answer with a nervous chuckle and then veered into talking about a group of Iraqi amputees who ‘had their hands cut off because the Iraqi currency had devalued and Saddam Hussein needed somebody to blame.’ “
Ironically, this most discombobulating question of the day came from someone essentially on Bush’s payroll — a correspondent for al-Hurra, the U.S.-funded Arab-language satellite channel.
For posterity, here is the entire exchange:
“Q Thank you, Mr. President. You do have now the personal gun of Saddam Hussein. Are you willing to give it to President al-Yawar as a symbolic gift, or are you keeping it? (Laughter.)
“THE PRESIDENT: What she’s referring to is a — members of a Delta team came to see me in the Oval Office and brought with me — these were the people that found Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, hiding in a hole. And, by the way, let me remind everybody about Saddam Hussein, just in case we all forget. There were mass graves under his leadership. There were torture chambers. Saddam Hussein — if you — we had seven people come to my office. Perhaps the foreign press didn’t see this story. Seven people came to my — they had their hands cut off because the Iraqi currency had devalued. And Saddam Hussein needed somebody to blame, so he blamed small merchants. And their hands were chopped off, their right hand.
“Fortunately, a documentary film maker went to Baghdad and filmed the — filmed these seven men. And their story was picked up around the nation, particularly in Houston, Texas, where a person named Marvin Zindler, who runs a foundation, took great sympathy and flew them over and had new hands put on. The latest prosthesis were put on their hand — were put on their arms. And their hands worked. I remember the guy signing ‘God Bless America’ with his new hand in the Oval Office.
“So this is the person. So needless to say, our people were thrilled to have captured him. And in his lap was several weapons. One of them was a pistol. And they brought it to me. It’s now the property of the U.S. government. And I am — I am — it — I’m grateful for their bravery. I’m also grateful that that part of the mission was accomplished, for the good of the Iraqi people.”
How on earth did this man get elected dog catcher, let alone President of the United States? Asked a relativly straight-forward question, he veers off into left field on some quest to remind us how brutal Saddam Hussain was. Typical Bush tactic: when asked anything about himself or his own actions, deflect, evade, answer by discussing someone else’s actions and personality instead.
“Are you going to keep his gun or give it to the new Iraqi president?”
“Let me remind you how brutal Saddam Hussain was…”
“Did you authorize use of torture on Iraqi detainees?”
“I don’t remember if I ever saw that memo. Let me remind you how brutal Saddam was…”
“Is there a functioning brain cell inside your cranium or just the receiving end of a remote control unit?”
“My handlers didn’t prepare me for that question. Let me remind you how brutal Saddam Hussain was…”
