Bush condemns Hussein, bids him 'good riddance'
President wants a public tribunal conducted by Iraqis
WASHINGTON -- President Bush said "good riddance" to Saddam Hussein yesterday, repeatedly and personally condemning the captured Iraqi dictator as someone whose words could not be trusted and whose official actions took the lives of innocent citizens over decades of brutal rule.
Bush and his aides have been careful not to be seen as gloating since the capture on Saturday, but the president edged close to that line when he was asked at a news conference what message he would send to Hussein.
"Good riddance," the president replied. "The world is better off without you, Mr. Saddam Hussein. I find it very interesting that when the heat got on, you dug yourself a hole and you crawled in it. And our brave troops, combined with good intelligence, found you. And you'll be brought to justice, something you did not afford the people you brutalized in your own country."
A few other subjects -- the budget deficit, tax policy, campaign politics -- were raised by reporters, but the capture of Hussein was the dominant topic at the news conference, Bush's 11th since taking office. With top aides seated in the front row, Bush appeared relaxed and jovial, and his rhetoric was laced with blunt words.
Describing Hussein's reign over Iraqis, Bush said: "He murdered them. He gassed them. He tortured them. He had rape rooms."
Bush reiterated his desire to see Iraqis publicly try Hussein, despite increasing international concern that he could face death for alleged crimes against humanity. Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, said yesterday that the UN does not support the death penalty. Key European nations such as Britain and France also oppose it, although the Bush administration and much of the Arab world support capital punishment.
"I have my personal views," Bush said when asked if Hussein should face execution. "This is a brutal dictator. He's a person who killed a lot of people. But my views, my personal views, aren't important in this matter. What matters is the view of the Iraqi citizens.
"And we need to work, of course, with them to develop a system that is fair and where he will be put on trial and will be brought to justice -- the justice he didn't, by the way, afford any of his own fellow citizens," he said.
Bush used the news conference to justify his move to topple Hussein, describing a meeting he had earlier in the day with an Iraqi doctor.
"The guy took me aside and he said, `I want to thank you. My dad was murdered by Saddam Hussein,' " Bush said. "A lot of people share that sentiment, by the way, because it's happened to them."
Bush, in response to a question of whether the administration would negotiate with Hussein, said he does not trust him. "I just can't believe he's going to change his ways just because he happens to be captured."
The president called for a public trial of Hussein where "all the atrocities" he is said to have committed are judged.
Bush, when asked whether democratizing Iraq might have been a better rationale for war than the regime's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, restated his doctrine of preemption of threats from abroad.
"Here's what I took away from September the 11th, 2001: That any time a president sees a gathering threat to the United States, we must deal with it. We can't pick or choose like we used to," he said. "In the old days oceans protected us from harm's way and a president could stand back and say, `Well, maybe this gathering threat is an issue, maybe it's not.' After September the 11th that complacency, I guess may be the right word, no longer is relevant."
Bush emphasized that military action is not always the best method to deal with those threats.
The president described how he handled the news of Hussein's capture, which he received on Saturday afternoon. He said he told his wife and Vice President Dick Cheney, and called national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and told her to call his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card.
Bush said it was not until Sunday morning that he spoke to his father, George H. W. Bush, whom Hussein allegedly once tried to have assassinated.
"He just said, `Congratulations, it's a great day for the country,' " Bush said.
Bush's last news conference was on Oct. 28, a day after car bombings in Iraq killed 35 people and raised the pitch of criticism of the president's postwar policies. But media and political specialists noted that Bush has tended to hold news conferences on the heels of good news.
"Let's be clear," said Leonard Steinhorn, who teaches political communication at American University in Washington, D.C. "This administration likes to use the press as a prop for its policy positions. The timing is part of their PR strategy."
The news conference did little to quell criticism of the administration.
"Bush has a unique opportunity now with the capture of Saddam to transform the efforts to rebuild Iraq from an American occupation to a global coalition," said Senator John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who is running for president. "Diplomacy is key to this effort. Yet today's performance by Bush is another example of his shoot-from-the-hip, go-it-alone policy and behavior that placed our soldiers in a shooting gallery and failed to win the peace."
Bush insisted his administration is not seeking a political advantage in the aftermath of Hussein's capture. Despite having raised more than $84 million for his reelection campaign, the president said -- as he does even when he is giving fund-raising speeches -- that "there's going to be plenty of time for politics."
"Forget politics," Bush said at a later point in the news conference.
But many of the president's remarks had the air of a campaign theme. In his opening statement, he asserted that, "In 2003, we have become a safer, more prosperous, and better nation."
Responding to a question about Democratic presidential candidates who have called for removing US troops from Iraq, Bush indicated he relishes a campaign debate about national security.
"I look forward to making my case to the American people about why America is more secure today, based upon the decisions that I've made," he said.
