President George W. Bush’s response to a line of questioning regarding US credibility being on the line should WMDs not be found: “I read a report that somehow, you know, that there is no al Qaeda presence in Baghdad. I guess the people who wrote that article forgot about Al Zarqawi’s network inside of Baghdad that ordered the killing of a U.S. citizen named Foley. And history will show, history — time will prove that the United States made the absolute right decision in freeing the people of Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein.”
– Transcript, “President Discusses Middle East, Iraq and the Dollar in Cabinet Meeting,” George W. Bush – White House Archives online, Accessed on 7/18/2016