Via Israel Hayom
Former U.S. President George W. Bush tells Israel Hayom in an exclusive interview, “My strategy, the Bush doctrine, was to vigorously pursue those who do us harm and bring them to justice”
“America has been very supportive of Israel,” he remarks.
“There is only one thing that I really miss about being president, and that’s being the commander-in-chief. I admire our military a lot,” former U.S. President George W. Bush tells Israel Hayom, his eyes twinkling. “When you are the commander-in-chief, at a time when I was, when you put them into a lot of combat situations, you develop a special bond, not only with the military but with their families.”
“I would salute men and women in uniform on a daily basis,” he says.[…]
We met the former president in Las Vegas, in between his many engagements. He was laid back, displayed a sharp sense of humor and demonstrated a lot of emotion, especially on topics like the military, defense and homeland security. We reminded him of an excerpt from his book in which he describes a farewell visit with American troops in Afghanistan. A unit of elite Army Rangers stood before him, saluted and declared that they would extend their service, pledging to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Bush was extremely moved.
“I met with a lot of families of the fallen. And I tried to do it out of the press. I didn’t want people to think … that it was just out of self-pity,” he says. “I went to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center all the time. You know what they told me most of the time? ‘I’d do it again Mr. President. You know, I hope I get well so I can go into combat.’”
The war snuck up on then-President Bush with the al-Qaida attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In his book he says that the week of the attacks was the key to understanding his entire presidency. He writes that he poured his heart and soul into defending the country, “by any means necessary.”