<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4><A
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-robertson21oct21.story"><FONT
size=3>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-robertson21oct21.story</FONT></A><FONT
size=3> </FONT>
<H4>THE NATION</H4>
<H1>Bush Foresaw No War Casualties, Robertson Recalls</H1>
<H2>The president was the 'most self-assured man I ever met' during a 2003
encounter, televangelist says. The White House says he's got it wrong.</H2>By
Peter Wallsten and Edwin Chen<BR>Times Staff Writers<BR><BR>October 21,
2004<BR><BR>EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Democrats trying to portray President Bush as too
headstrong when he decided to invade Iraq got help this week from an unlikely
source: televangelist and Bush supporter Pat Robertson.<BR><BR>Appearing on CNN
on Tuesday night, Robertson recalled a private meeting with Bush before the Iraq
war began, at which he said the president asserted there would be no
casualties.<BR><BR>"I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about
this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, Mr. President, you better
prepare the American people for casualties," Robertson told CNN's Paula
Zahn.<BR><BR>But Bush said, " 'Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties,'
" Robertson related.<BR><BR>During the meeting, Bush "was the most self-assured
man I ever met in my life," Robertson said. "You remember Mark Twain said, 'He
looks like a contented Christian with four aces.' He was just sitting there,
like, 'I'm on top of the world.' "<BR><BR>Robertson's comments quickly became an
issue in the presidential campaign and put the White House in the awkward
position of denying comments from one of Bush's most prominent
supporters.<BR><BR>"I think he must have either misunderstood, misheard or been
confused about what the conversation was because I've never heard the president
say anything of the sort, and he wouldn't have," Karen Hughes, a senior Bush
advisor, told reporters. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "Of course
the president never made such a comment."<BR><BR>Bush strategist Karl Rove told
reporters that he was in the room for the Feb. 10, 2003, meeting, and that
Robertson was incorrect in his recollection.<BR><BR>"I was right there," Rove
said.<BR><BR>Robertson issued a two-paragraph statement confirming his support
for Bush, but he did not withdraw his comments.<BR><BR>Robertson's remarks
sparked a stern reaction Wednesday from the campaign of Democrat John F. Kerry,
which has criticized Bush for his refusal, as recently as in the second
presidential debate, to acknowledge having made mistakes during his time in
office.<BR><BR>"We believe President Bush should get the benefit of the doubt
here, but he needs to come forward and answer a very simple question: Is Pat
Robertson telling the truth when he said you didn't think there'd be any
casualties, or is Pat Robertson lying?" said Kerry spokesman Mike
McCurry.<BR><BR>More than 1,100 U.S. servicemen and women have died in the war,
and thousands more have been injured.<BR><BR>Robertson, who is founder of the
Christian Broadcasting Network and host of its program "The 700 Club," talked
about his 2003 meeting with Bush as part of a larger conversation about how he
believed "God's blessing is on" the president, despite Bush's "goofs and
gaffes."<BR><BR>Robertson has made similar comments in the past.<BR><BR>On June
22, the former GOP presidential contender said on the MSNBC program "Hardball"
that "I warned the president. I only met with him once. I said you better
prepare the American people for some serious casualties. And he said, 'Oh, no,
our troops are, you know, so well-protected, we don't have to worry about that.'
"<BR><BR>Robertson declined through a spokeswoman to comment on the flap over
his remarks.<BR><BR>When Zahn asked Robertson how evangelicals who might
disagree with Bush on the war and other policies could still vote for him,
Robertson seemed to stop just short of calling the president the lesser of two
evils.<BR><BR>"Well, you know, you don't run against perfection. It's two
fallible people," Robertson said. "So it's either the lesser of the evil or the
best of second — the best — whatever."</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>