Bush backed away from saying the CIA was “just guessing” in a gloomy July forecast for Iraq, but again dismissed the US intelligence community’s warnings that the country might at best only cling to tenuous stability.
“This is a report that talks about possibilities about what can happen in Iraq, not probabilities. I used an unfortunate word, ‘guess.’ I should have used, ‘estimate,” he said.
“The CIA came and said, ‘This is a possibility, this is a possibility, and this is a possibility.’ But what’s important for the American people to hear is reality,” said Bush.
Kerry should ignore this, just like the Bush campaign ignores Kerry when he explains or clarifies his position. “Just guessing” should be repeated at every chance. It could be used sarcastically, such as “Bush thinks things are going well in Iraq. I think he’s out of touch with reality. I don’t know that for sure. I’m just guessing.”
Update: Kevin Drum thinks it’s not so much a “misspeak” by Bush but a “misthink” or more precisely, a “nothink.”