Bush Blames Saddam for Iraq Instability

President Bush gestures during an address before the Freedom House in Washington, Wednesday, march 29, 2006. Freedom House, a more than 60-year-old independent organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world. The president said that Saddam Hussein, not continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, is responsible for ongoing sectarian violence that is threatening the formation of a democratic government. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

This is from Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein, not continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, is responsible for ongoing sectarian violence that is threatening the formation of a democratic government.

In his third speech this month to bolster public support for the war, Bush worked to counter critics who say the U.S. presence in the wartorn nation is fueling the insurgency. Bush said that Saddam was a tyrant and used violence to exacerbate sectarian divisions to keep himself in power, and that as a result, deep tensions persist to this day.

"The enemies of a free Iraq are employing the same tactics Saddam used, killing and terrorizing the Iraqi people in an effort to foment sectarian division," Bush said.

The president also pushed Iraq to speed up the formation of a unity government, seen as the best option to subdue the violence gripping several Iraqi cities

"I want the Iraqi people to hear I've got great confidence in their capacity to self govern," Bush said. "I also want the Iraqi people to hear — it's about time you get a unity government going. In other words, Americans understand you're newcomers to the political arena. But pretty soon its time to shut her down and get governing."

"Iraq is a nation that is physically and emotionally scarred by three decades of Saddam's tyranny," Bush said in a speech to Freedom House, a more than 60-year-old independent organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world.

Bush said Iraq's instability "is the legacy of Saddam — a tyrant who exacerbated ethnic divisions to keep himself in power."

Here is the link to Bush's speech.

Can't President Bush accept any sense of responsibility for his mistakes? Come on! Bush is blaming Saddam for the continued violence in Iraq--even though the U.S. has Saddam in custody now? And I don't believe there was any sectarian violence in Iraq before the U.S. invasion. I'm dumbfounded at this sorry state of an excuse by the president--it even goes beyond the White House spin that I've gotten use to hearing from them. Yes, Saddam was a brutal dictator. Yes, Saddam used violence to divide and suppress his people. But to have Presdident Bush blame Saddam Hussein for the White House and neocons own incompetence in pre-invasion planning, post-war occupation and reconstruction, and for failing to anticipate an Iraqi insurgency movement and possible civil war between the ethnic and religious sects, is outrageous--it is even beyond absurdity. It is like having Bush blame Saddam, after Bush obviously "broke" Iraq.

You broke it Mr. President. You're responsible for it. You get to keep it.