“Meet the Press” Lowlights
Tim Russert: Senator Biden, what's the problem when kids here in the United States sign up and go to boot camp and get ready, and we've done it in World War II, we did it in Korea, We did it in Vietnam, we did it Kosovo, we do it in Iraq--they can be ready for combat within a matter of months. Why is it taking the Iraqis some two and a half years and they still have not put together an army that can replace the
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Sen. John Warner: “‘Saddam Hussein possesses today an arsenal of weapons far, far more dangerous to the whole world than Hitler ever possessed.’” I made that statement. I stand by it. At that time, I was operating on intelligence which had been given my committee behind closed doors in open sessions by George Tenet, by Secretary Rumsfeld … at that time, I was of the opinion and I stand by the statement. ...Our president would not intentionally take any facts and try and mislead the American public, in my judgment…. Now, we recognize he didn't have [nuclear weapons] but he certainly had the infrastructure to which he was going to direct moneys, if he ever got it, to go back into the business of weapons of mass destruction, had not this invasion taken place.
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Tim Russert: This was made available to senators before the vote. Only six read it.
Sen. Joseph Biden: No, no, no, no, no, no. That's true, that was before the vote.
Tim Russert: But you saw...
Sen. Joseph Biden: That was before the vote.
Tim Russert: You saw that information and you still voted for the war.
Sen. Joseph Biden: But remember--no, remember what I voted for was for the president to be able to go to war, if, if--I've got the resolution here--if, in fact, it was to enforce the existing breaches that existed in the U.N. resolution and if he could show there were weapons of mass destruction… But remember what the resolution said, Tim, it didn't say “go to war.” It said, “Mr. President, if you can show these things, then you can use force.” The reason we gave the president the authority was to unite the world in keeping Saddam in a box, not freeing him up from the sanctions, which was the alternative, as you remember at the time. We have selective memories. That was the alternative. It wasn't the status quo, anti, or war, it was whether or not we were going to keep him in a box.
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David Gregory: … And so [the White House] used a line from their 2004 campaign play book-- Michael Moore in the left wing faction of the Democratic Party--and they used it against Murtha. Quickly they realized that that was a mistake. And it wasn't just McClellan who wrote that. Top officials in the White House were involved in that. The president felt, after seeing for a couple of days that this was an important moment, that a very serious member of Congress and an ally of the military was [agreeing with Michael Moore] calling for a re-examination, that he had to tone it down, because the American people were taking it seriously.
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David Gregory: … And so what the administration faces is the difficulty of saying to the American people, “We've got a shot here for real democracy.” The question is, do Americans feel invested in building that democracy over the long term. It could be very difficult.
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Tim Russert: An insurgency of this magnitude has to be enabled by the populace. And unless the Iraqis “stand up,” there is no possible way the
Tim Russert, John Warner, Joe Biden, David Gregory, “Meet the Press,” NBC,
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