Bush: "Iraq's Future Is So Bright I Have To Wear Partisan Blinders"

Joe Biden, from CNN.

JOE BIDEN (D-DE): And look, here's the point. General Abizaid said people say we can't win. John Kerry is saying, we can and must win. Joe Biden is saying that. Dick Lugar is saying that. John McCain is saying that. The CIA is saying that. What we're saying is, Mr. President, unless you take your blinders off, level with the American people, the course you have us on, Mr. President, is a losing course. What else did General Abizaid say? General Abizaid, when asked whether we needed more forces in Iraq, said yes. What's the president say? No, we don't need more forces.

WOLF BLITZER: No, he said we...

BIDEN: Come on.

BLITZER: ... need more forces, but those could be international forces or more Iraqi forces. They don't necessarily need to be U.S. forces.

BIDEN: That's right. But what happens, Wolf, I've been saying that for a year and a half. What's the president been saying? We don't need any more new forces from anybody. We can't get them.

BLITZER: Well, just to be precise on that point, Senator, at the news conference with the prime minister, Allawi, he said if he's asked by the military commanders for more forces, he'll consider that, but he has not been asked.

BIDEN: I find this fascinating. He said that, what, four days ago?

BLITZER: Yes.

BIDEN: What has the military privately been saying for the last four, six, eight and 12 months? They've been saying, we need more forces. Mr. President, we'd love to have them from NATO. Mr. President, we'd love to have them from other countries. Mr. President, we need more forces. And the president says, don't worry, be happy, everything is going fine. Look, this is not about Kerry versus Bush. This is about Joe Biden, Dick Lugar, John McCain, Colin Powell, privately, the CIA versus George Bush and Rumsfeld and Cheney.