Does Bush Have A Clue?

As Bush is out pimping money for the GOP campaigns, does he have a clue about what he is saying, or is he just lying? Bush held a press conference on Friday July 7th. A variety of issues came up in the one hour conference. Of particular interest was his response in three areas: the threat of North Korea's long range missile; North Korea's nuclear capability, and the news that the CIA group (Alec Station) had been shut down.

Long Range Missile
In response to a question about the threat of a long range missile from North Korea, Bush responded "I think we had a reasonable chance of shooting it down; at least that's what the military commander has told me." One has to wonder what a "reasonable chance" is. This is particularly true if you sit in Hawaii, Alaska, or anywhere else on the West Coast of the U.S. One also has to wonder about the wisdom of shooting down a missile test since such tests are legal. If the U.S. does shoot down test firings from North Korea, would that be a "provocation?"

North Korea's Nuclear Capability
Suzanne Malveaux, a White House correspondent for CNN, tried to ask Bus about the success of his handling of the North Korea issue. In the lead in to her question, she pointed out that North Korea;s nuclear capability had increased since 2004. This increased capability has been widely reported and confirmed via government sources. Bush interrupted Malveaux and asked if she could "substantiate" that claim. He then went on to say "I don't think we know that."

Quotations above are from the NY Times article Bush Says U.S. May Have Been Able to Intercept North Korean Missile

The Closing of Alec Station
Sometime last year, the CIA shut down its group that was focused on tracking and capturing Osama bin Laden. The group was known as "Alec Station." The shut down of the operation has been heavily criticized by Michael Scheuer - the man who once headed the project - as a waste of years of effort. When Bush was questioned about the decision, he responded:"it's just an incorrect story." Excuse me? Here is a transcript from Raw Story:

QUESTION: You said some time ago that you wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive. You later regretted the formulation, but maybe no the thought.

BUSH: I regretted the formulation because my wife got on me for talking that way.

QUESTION: We suspected as much, sir. But the question I have -- the question I have is, it appears that the CIA has disbanded the unit that was hunting him down. Is it no longer important to track him down?

BUSH: I -- you know, it's just an incorrect story. I mean, we got a -- we're -- we got a lot of assets looking for Osama bin Laden. So whatever you want to read in that story, it's just not true, period.