Bush hits Obama on foreign policy

During a morning press conference in the White House briefing room, the president was asked about Sen. Obama's recent remark that "If al Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad."

"That's an interesting comment," Bush said, repeating an attack raised by Sen. John McCain on the campaign trail recently.  "If al Qaeda is securing a al Qaeda base -- yes, well, that's exactly what they've been trying to do for the past four years," Bush said.  "That's their stated intention, was to create enough chaos and disorder to establish a base from which to either launch attacks or spread a caliphate."

When asked if he felt Sen. Obama was naive, Bush said "Senator Obama better stay focused on his campaign with Senator Clinton."

When Sen. McCain attacked Obama for making that remark, Obama hit back at the Republicans.  "I do know that al Qaeda is in Iraq and that is why I said we should continue to strike al Qaeda targets. But I have some news for John McCain. And that is that there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq."

At his press conference today, Bush said he wanted to avoid talking about politics and didn't want to become " pundit-in-chief."  But he couldn't resist the opportunity to strike back at both Democratic presidential candidates on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was ratified during President Clinton's administration.

"Those of us who grew up in Texas remember what the border looked like when we were kids, and it was really poor," Bush said.  "And you go down to that border today, it is prosperous on both sides of the river, to the credit of those who proposed NAFTA, and to the credit of those who got NAFTA through the Congress. If you're worried about people coming into our country illegally, it makes sense to help a place like Mexico grow its economy. Most folks would rather be finding a job close to home; most folks would rather not try to get in the bottom of an 18-wheeler to come and put food on the table."