Richard Tafoya
May 11th, 2007, 06:40 PM
CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/11/romney/
As former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney tries to distinguish himself from his Republican rivals in the race for president, he's also distancing himself from President Bush.
On the topic of Iraq, Romney gave perhaps his strongest criticism yet of the administration in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."
"I think the administration made a number of errors," he told interviewer Mike Wallace. But, he said, Bush isn't solely to blame.
"Well, he's the person where the buck stops," Romney said, "but it goes to the secretary of defense and the planning agencies, the Department of State -- it's the whole administration."
He wouldn't use Wallace's term -- that the administration "screwed up" -- but he said that mistakes were made.
"And we're paying for those mistakes," he added.
Asked what those mistakes were, Romney said, "I don't think we were adequately prepared for what occurred. I don't think we had done enough planning. I don't think we considered the various downsides and risks."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/11/romney/
As former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney tries to distinguish himself from his Republican rivals in the race for president, he's also distancing himself from President Bush.
On the topic of Iraq, Romney gave perhaps his strongest criticism yet of the administration in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."
"I think the administration made a number of errors," he told interviewer Mike Wallace. But, he said, Bush isn't solely to blame.
"Well, he's the person where the buck stops," Romney said, "but it goes to the secretary of defense and the planning agencies, the Department of State -- it's the whole administration."
He wouldn't use Wallace's term -- that the administration "screwed up" -- but he said that mistakes were made.
"And we're paying for those mistakes," he added.
Asked what those mistakes were, Romney said, "I don't think we were adequately prepared for what occurred. I don't think we had done enough planning. I don't think we considered the various downsides and risks."