George Bush: I do not need to explain why I say things

From an interview conducted by Bob Woodward with the US President in Crawford, Texas, for 'The Washington Post'

"At this moment in history, if there is a world problem, we're expected to deal with it. It's the price of power. It is the price of where the US stands...

There is a value system that cannot be compromised. And if the values are good enough for our people, they ought to be good enough for others, not in a way to impose because these are God-given values. These aren't US-created values. These are values of freedom, the human condition, mothers loving their children.

The US is in a unique position right now. We are the leader. And a leader must combine the ability to listen to others, along with action.

The vision thing matters. That's another lesson I learnt. See, I think my job is to stay ahead of the moment. A President, I guess, can get so bogged down in the moment that you're unable to be the strategic thinker that you're supposed to be, or at least provoke strategic thought. And I'm the kind of person that wants to make sure that all risk is assessed.

I can only just go by my instincts. Listen, I am a product of the Vietnam world. There is a very fine line between micromanaging combat and setting the tactics [and] to kind of make sure there is a sense of, not urgency, but purpose and forward movement.

One of my jobs is to be provocative. Seriously, to provoke people into – to force decisions, and to make sure it's clear in everybody's mind where we're headed. There was a certain rhythm and flow to this, and I was beginning to get a little frustrated. It was just not coming together as quickly as we had hoped. And I was trying to force the issue without compromising safety.

I'm the commander, I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation....

I guess it's just I've tried to think a step ahead. A president must do that. And the other job that I have is to ask questions – some of them may be the questions that aren't worth asking, but I'm not afraid to ask them. That's one of the things that I'm now very comfortable with. There is no such thing as a dumb question, by me or anybody else on our team."