Civics, uh, Lesson

Correction: Apologies--here's the source.

George W. Bush on sovereignty:

And we're waiting for the Iraqi government to assess the situation and make requests to the free world. We'll respond to their requests when sovereignty is fully transferred.

That's the definition of full sovereignty. When a government's fully sovereign, they then make requests on behalf of their people. And the response here at the G-8 has been very encouraging. In other words, the G-8 leaders have said we'll wait for their requests and see if we can't help.

George W. Bush on History and Cultural Sensitivity:

I fully understand that a free society in the Middle East is going to reflect the culture and traditions of the people in that country, not America.

I also understand it takes a while to adopt the habits of a democratic society and a free society. After all, it took our own country a while. You might remember the period of the Articles of Confederation.

You do remember the period of the articles?

George W. Bush on the UN:

I think it's a positive development when the U.N. is able to work together, and we are working together. We're working together a lot on a lot of fronts.

George W. Bush on Torture:

Q:Is torture ever justified?

BUSH: Look, I'm going to say it one more time. Maybe I can be more clear. The instructions went out to our people to adhere to law. That ought to comfort you.

We're a nation of law. We adhere to laws. We have laws on the books. You might look at these laws. And that might provide comfort for you. And those were the instructions from me to the government.

George W. Bush on War Trophies:

What she is referring to is members of a Delta team came to see me in the Oval Office and brought with me -- these were the people that 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 receive this story...

So this is the person -- so, needless to say, our people were thrilled to have captured him.

And in his lap were 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 grateful for their bravery. I'm also grateful that that part of the mission was accomplished for the good of the Iraqi people.

This is your area, right?

George W. Bush on WMD (Compare and Contrast with March 6, 2003 press conference):

Bob, it's a good question. I don't know -- I haven't reached a final conclusion yet because the inspection teams aren't back yet.

I do know that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to make weapons. I do know he's a dangerous person. I know he used weapons against his own people and against the neighborhood.

But we'll wait until (U.S. weapons inspector) Charlie (Duelfer) gets back with the final report, and then I will be glad to report.

George W. Bush on education:

Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning?