Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama
WASHINGTON - President Obama says America is robust enough to withstand another 9/11, a new book by Watergate reporter Bob Woodward says.
"We can absorb a terrorist attack," Obama told Woodward, according to an authorized excerpt published by The Washington Post. "We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever ... we absorbed it and we are stronger."
Critics said the President was truthful - though inelegant - in describing the country's ability to withstand spectacular strikes and emerge stronger than before. Some Republicans took mild issue with Obama's remarks, while others were harsher.
"I don't know that I would have said that," said former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. "I would prefer if he put his efforts into preventing another 9/11."
Rep. Pete King of Long Island, top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said Obama sounded like a battle statistician coolly discussing acceptable casualties rather than a leader proud of his country's resilience.
"There is an emotional disconnect between the President and the American people," King said.
Ex-Bush United Nations Ambassador John Bolton called the remark "outrageous," and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Liz, who served in the Bush State Department, accused Obama of "an alarming fatalism."
White House officials had no immediate reaction.
Washington Examiner conservative columnist Timothy Carney wrote: "Sure, the President shouldn't have said this to a reporter, but that doesn't mean he was wrong."
Source: NY Daily News
Source: NY Daily News
Kevin Eason is a freelance editorial cartoonist and Illustrator from New Jersey. His brand of satire covers news events in politics, entertainment, sports and much more. Follow him on Facebook.