August 9, 2007
Posted: 01:08 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) – When it comes to anything related to the ’08 campaign fray, President Bush says just leave me out of it. At Thursday morning’s White House news conference, Bush again declined to comment on the race – this time the criticism of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama’s Pakistan statement. Bush said, “I suspect that over the course of the next months when I hold a press conference you'll be trying to get me to engage in presidential politics, trying to get me to opine about what candidates are saying, whether they be Republicans or Democrats. And hopefully I'll be disciplined enough not to fall prey to your questions, not to fall into that.” Last week, the Illinois senator said he would be willing to use military force against terrorist training camps in Pakistan if Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf did not act against them. His chief rival for the Democratic nomination, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, criticized the comments at Tuesday's AFL-CIO forum, saying presidential candidates should not "engage in hypotheticals." "You can think big, but remember, you shouldn't always say everything you think if you are running for president, because it has consequences around the world. And we don't need that right now," Clinton said. Meanwhile, at Camp David Monday, Mr. Bush told reporters, “I'm confident, with real, actionable intelligence, we will get the job done” and capture top al Qaeda leaders inside Pakistan. The President was then asked at Thursday’s news conference if the “we” included Pakistan’s government. Mr. Bush responded, “To the question you asked and to my answer in Camp David, I said I'm confident that we — both the Paks and the Americans — will be able to work up a plan based upon actionable intelligence that will bring the top al Qaeda targets to justice. And I meant what I said. We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence. The question was: Am I confident that they will be brought to justice? And my answer to you is: Yes, I am confident.” – CNN Political Desk Manager Steve Brusk Filed under: President Bush
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