Bush: "I Knew Exactly What Was Going To Happen " In Iraq...

CNN April 10, 2006 at 12:20 PM
READ MORE: George W. Bush, Iraq

Bush: And so to answer your question, yes, I hear the protests, and I can understand why. I can understand why people are concerned about war. Nobody likes war, particularly me.

I knew exactly what was going to happen when I committed these troops into harm's way. I knew there would be -- people would lose their life. I knew I would be trying to comfort mothers and fathers and grieving wives. I knew exactly what was coming. And if I didn't think it was the right thing to do, I wouldn't have sent them. And if I didn't think we would succeed in Iraq, I'd pull them out.

And the good thing about democracy is people can express themselves.

We're fixing to have a huge immigration march today. And it's a sign that there's a -- this is a -- you know, this is an important issue that people feel strongly about. And I repeat to you, I strongly believe that societies in which you're not allowed to express yourself are societies which do breed resentment. And kind of the bottled up anxiety causes people to become very frustrated. And that's not healthy for society.

Read the whole transcript here.