Romney criticizes Bush on Iraq

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took to the national airwaves Sunday to criticize the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war, describe his LDS faith and denounce polygamy.

An interview with Romney was the lead segment on the CBS News program "60 Minutes," broadcast locally on KUTV Ch. 2.

CBS News provided the Deseret Morning News with a transcript of the program, which accurately reflected the comments as they were aired. CBS also posted quotations from Romney's statements on its Web site, www.cbsnews.com.

Veteran newsman Mike Wallace asked Romney why the Democrats are suddenly in charge. "Well, because of Iraq," the former Massachusetts governor replied.

"You mean the president screwed up in Iraq?" Wallace asked.

"I think the administration made a number of errors," Romney said.

Pressed to describe the errors, he continued, "Well, I don't think we were adequately prepared for what occurred. I don't think we had done enough planning. I don't think we'd considered the various downsides and risks."

Responding again to Wallace, he said President Bush is where the buck stops, but "it's the whole administration, ... and we're paying for those mistakes."

Among the administration there was a strong, honest belief that Americans would be welcomed with open arms in Iraq and that Iraq would become a model of democracy for the region. "And you know what? We were wrong," Romney said.

He predicted that in a matter of months people will know if the troop surge in Iraq is working.

Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that at the heart of his faith is belief in a creator. "That we're all children of the same God. And that fundamentally the relationship you have with your spouse is important and eternal."

That relationship, he added, is not just some temporary convenience on Earth. "We're people that are designed to live together as male and female, and we're gonna have families," he said.

Romney cited a Bible quotation that children are an inheritance of the Lord and happy is he who has a quiver full of them.

Wallace challenged Romney to say why one out of three people would worry about him as president because of his religion.

"That's a part of the history of the church's past that I understand is troubling to people," he said. Polygamy, which the church disavowed in 1890, is troubling to him, he added.

He mentioned his great-grandfather who was a polygamist. "They were trying to build a generation out there in the desert. And so he took additional wives as he was told to do," Romney said.

"And I must admit, I can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy."

Sunday's broadcast comes on the heels of two other recent national exposures for Romney's presidential campaign — mention of his LDS faith in the PBS series "The Mormons," which aired April 30 and May 1; and last week's tempest over remarks made by the Rev. Al Sharpton in which he suggested that Romney, as a Mormon, is not a true believer in God.

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