Our National Embarassment, speaking four years ago:
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, we’ll put together a force structure who meets the threats on the ground. And we’ve got a lot of forces there, ourselves. And as I said yesterday, anybody who wants to harm American troops will be found and brought to justice. There are some who feel like that if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don’t understand what they’re talking about, if that’s the case.
Let me finish. There are some who feel like — that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on. We’ve got the force necessary to deal with the security situation.
One small correction to the White House transcription: that should read “bring ’em on.” Which will probably be GWB’s version of “I am not a crook,” the painfully ironic phrase for which he is ultimately remembered by future generations.