From the August 30 edition of MNSBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews - Excerpts from Brian Williams' interview with George Bush - courtesy of Media Matters:
Williams:
When you take a tour of the world, a lot of Americans email me with their fears that, you know, some days they wake up and it just feels to them like the end of the world is near, and you go from North Korea, to Iran, to Iraq, to Afghanistan and you look at how things have changed. How Americans are viewed overseas, if that is important to you. Do you have any moments of doubt that we fought the wrong war, that there is something wrong with the perception of America overseas?Bush:
Well, those are two different questions. Did we fight the wrong war? And the answer is, I have no doubt. The war came to our shores, remember that. We had a foreign policy that basically said, "Let's hope calm works," and we were attacked.Williams:
But those weren't Iraqis.Bush:
No, I agree. They weren't Iraqis, nor did I ever say that Iraq ordered that attack. But they are part of -- Iraq is part of the struggle against the terrorists. These terrorists have made it clear they want us to leave Iraq prematurely. And why is it? Because they want a safe haven. They'd love to get a hold of oil. They have territorial ambitions. And no, I think fighting this war is the absolute right thing to do.Williams:
Now, in terms of image, of course I worry about American image. We're great at TV, and we're getting crushed in the PR front. And so, we try to work hard and try to work smart about how we get a message out that says we respect Islam. We just reject the ideology of extremists who kill innocent people to achieve political objectives. And we've got to do a harder job.
But somehow people -- if what you're saying is if we retreat for the sake of popularity, is that the smart thing to do? And my answer is absolutely not. It would be a huge mistake to give the battlefield to these extremists. We retreat; they follow us. And I see it as clearly as day. And I understand the challenge, and I understand -- I also understand the frustrations of our citizens.
Let's, if we might, get back to 9-11 for one second. Has there ever been an effort to link the two? How far have you gone?Bush:
No, I really haven't. Because I'm very careful. I understand what happens when you lay something out that people can tear apart. It hurts credibility. And you know, I personally do not believe Saddam Hussein picked up the phone and said to Al Qaeda, "Attack America."Williams:
How close was he associated with Al Qaeda, in your view?Bush:
Well, he was -- he was on our state sponsor of terrorists list. And he was paying families of suiciders. He has -- he also, by the way, had weapons of mass destruction one time and had the capacity to make them. And that's a dangerous mix. We didn't put him on the state sponsor of terrorists list. The previous administrations put him on the state sponsor of terrorists list.Williams:
Do you see that the argument that some on the left make that the war in Iraq has amounted to a colossal recruitment poster in the fundamentalist world?
Bush: No, I don't see that at all. The fundamentalist world attacked the United States and killed 3,000 people before I even thought about removing Saddam Hussein from power. I just don't buy that argument. It is an argument that's not based upon fact.
He is a lying son of a bitch. You can't pick out the worst lie, they are all so blatant and obbvious.
ReplyDeleteI watched the interview and it made my blood boil.
ditto
ReplyDeleteBrian Williams is an intelligent man and a great journalist but I was disappointed that he did not call Junior out to task more for some of the lies he told.
ReplyDeleteMy one idea is that he gave Junior the rope to hang himself since some of the things Junior spoke of were completely outrageous and not based in reality.
Brian Williams works for G.E. That's who owns his network. Nothing is put out on that station that isn`t controlled. Our society is not a free society. You people are brainwashed. Mr. Williams also.
ReplyDeleteThe same is true of Amy Goodman and her ilk. These people present themselves as alternative, but they are not.
Our media is carefully controlled by the money interests of the corporations.
They don`t call it the United States of Amnesia for nothing.
Our educational system has been dumbed down to the point where people are unable to sort through things to get at any so called truths now.
Bush is nothing more than an entertainer, and not a very good one. He is the front man for the powers that be, just as Clinton was before him.
These types of people don`t actually care about the American people.
Warning ; Any one who will do one thing to one person, will do it to another. Bush could just as easily turn on the American people, as he has destroyed so many people in the middle east. He is a monster, also a pawn for the system. The system knows that war makes our economy go round. That is why we are doing it.
I scared my dogs and cats yelling at the TV. Brian Williams let Bush off easy, IMO. I had hoped for better.
ReplyDeleteAs to your challenge, there were too many whoppers to count. His interview was lies strung together with GOP talking points...useless.
i started watching the interview and then i started violently shaking, chilled to the bone and spewing green bile. i HAD to turn the television OFF immediately or i would have imploded
ReplyDeleteIf only the PR were going a little better, we would be winning. Right!
ReplyDeleteThe "ideology of extremists who kill innocent people to achieve political objectives" could just as easily be applied to Bush.
He is up to his eyeballs in deceit. This interview will be written about by historians.
He makes me furious and I can't watch him anymore, so thanks for posting this.
Unbelievable!!! How do they get away with it? How do they keep each other on the same side? How do they read what they said right after 9/11 and through the years following and read what they are saying now?
ReplyDeleteHow can Bush say,
"either you're with us or you're with the terrorists,"
and now he's saying
"the American people who disagree with me are fine Americans, they are all loyal citizens, they love this country. The only trouble is, they're wrong."?
Instead of getting angry about Bush and his minions it makes more sense to actually understand the system we now live in. Our Price System has been run by the corporations since about 1948, we do not have a so called Democracy. Most of the people reading this blog and most of the American people are brainwashed into thinking we are a free creative society. This is not so.
ReplyDeleteBoth of our political parties are controlled by the same group. The corporation. There is no connection between our political system and the actual people, and all decisions only revolve around schemes to make money. That is the actual truth of it. So why get mad.? You are no use to any one mad. Why not become part of an alternative movement to change our culture. The current political culture has no values, and will destroy us in their quest to make money. Do you understand.?
There are some real alternatives. They are not what pass`s for alternative in the mainstream now.
I think what is extremely interesting about this final WHOPPER is that there was no cue, segue or preparation for it in Brian William's question: Bush just free-associated it and came out and said he "never intended" to attack Iraq before 9-11. That's heavy and should not be passed over.
ReplyDeleteDoth he not protest too much?
Diagnostic?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest whopper Bush is telling the American people is that the the Pentagon reports
ReplyDelete"that only a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, while the overwhelming majority want peace and a normal life in a unified country."
This has got to be one of the biggest lies Bush has told since the original lies he used to take our nation to war against Iraq. He's trying to cover up what is clearly a civil war in Iraq, with our forces on one side of a multi-front conflict which is escalating around them. Bush downplays all of this to maintain his party's political campaign with our soldiers at the point of his politics.
It's practically treasonous; at the least, criminally negligent, for him to ignore the conclusions of his own Pentagon's report and continue to tell the American people that everything is going swimmingly in Iraq.
His last answer doesn't even make logical sense.
ReplyDeleteI had to turn off the TV. Disgusting in all respects.
ReplyDelete