URGENT: Joseph Wilson to Bill Moyers in Feb. interview — war with Iraq not just about WMD!

NOW with Bill Moyers ^ | 7/14/03 | Interview transcript

[Wolfstar]

In Depth — Transcript, February 28, 2003, Bill Moyers talks with Joseph C. Wilson, IV

[BEGIN EXERPT]

MOYERS: You are calling for coercive inspections.

WILSON: That's right. Muscular disarmament, coercive inspections, coercive containment, whatever you want to call it. I don't think containment's the right word because we're really talking about disarmament.

MOYERS: Does it seem to you that the President, George Bush, is prepared to accept a disarmed Hussein? Or does he want a dead Hussein?

WILSON: I think he wants a dead Hussein. I don't think there's any doubt about it.

MOYERS: President Bush's recent speech to the American Enterprise Institute, he said, let me quote it to you. "The danger posed by Saddam Hussein and his weapons cannot be ignored or wished away." You agree with that?

WILSON: I agree with that. Sure. I...
MOYERS: "The danger must be confronted." You agree with that? "We would hope that the Iraqi regime will meet the demands of the United Nations and disarm fully and peacefully. If it does not, we are prepared to disarm Iraq by force. Either way, this danger will be removed. The safety of the American people depends on ending this direct and growing threat." You agree with that?

WILSON: I agree with that. Sure. The President goes on to say in that speech as he did in the State of the Union Address is we will liberate Iraq from a brutal dictator. All of which is true.

[ED. NOTE: This is the only time in the lengthy Moyers interview where Wilson mentions the State of the Union Address. At NO time did he mention any concerns about the sentence regarding British intelligence and Niger. The grousing about that sentence actually began shortly after the SOTUA and went nowhere. Now comes this sudden, new-found "concern" by a man with long ties to the Democrat Party.]

[SNIP]

MOYERS: You think war is inevitable?

WILSON: I think war is inevitable. Essentially, the speech that the President gave at the American Enterprise Institute was so much on the overthrow of the regime and the liberation of the Iraqi people that I suspect that Saddam understands that this is not about disarmament.

WILSON: But I think disarmament is only one of the objectives. And the President has touched repeatedly and more openly on the other objectives in recent speeches including this idea of liberating Iraq and liberating its people from a brutal dictator. And I agree that Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator.

And I agree along with everybody else that the Iraqi people could — would well be far better off without Saddam Hussein. The problem really is a war which has us invading, conquering and then subsequently occupying Iraq may not achieve that liberation that we're talking about.

MOYERS: So this is not just about weapons of mass destruction.

WILSON: Oh, no, I think it's far more about re-growing the political map of the Middle East.

[SNIP]

MOYERS: Talk to me a moment about the notion of preemptive action and regime change. Preemptive action means an attack.

WILSON: That's right. That's right. We have historically reserved as part of our right of legitimate self-defense the authority to go in and take out an enemy before that enemy has an opportunity to take us out.

[END EXERPT]

[Wolfstar]

Who is Joseph C. Wilson? <a href="

[Support Free Republic]

CHEAP THRILLS - $1 (the first one's free!)
	If every FR member gave a buck a month, we wouldn't need fundraisers. Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

[Wolfstar]

Please forgive the incomplete addendum on "Who is Joseph C. Wilson. Accidentally clicked "Post" while intending to click "Preview."

To continue: Click here for a full bio. Here are key highlights:

A career diplomat; member of the U.S. Diplomatic Service 1976—1998.

In 1985-1986, he served in the offices of Senator Albert Gore and the House Majority Whip, Representative Thomas Foley, as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow.

Held several very senior diplomatic posts in the 1990's under Bill Clinton until he joined the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council from June 1997 until July 1998.

[Wolfstar]

Some of the research I promised you.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Bush Nuke Basher Admitted Saddam Sought the Bomb

[Abcdefg]

Moyers is scum. A DemocRAT operative, his phony pretend piety is sickening.

[MizSterious]

Good research, thank you for posting your work!

[Wild Irish Rogue]

The problem for the White House was that they were a continent away,when the hysteria started.The Democrats and their toadie, Wilson, seized the moment because they knew the President would be vulnerable and not fully aware of the rising chorus back home.I think if Bush had been stateside,he would have understood the situation better. Wilson was alleging one set of papers were forged and yet the Brits were talking about an entirely different set of intel,not relying on Wilson's papers. It is apples and oranges and there was no need for any clarification.The only problem for the WH would have been if the Brit's backed away from their claim .

[raised by wolves]

From: July 11, 2003, 11:00 a.m. "Scandal! Bush’s enemies aren't telling the truth about what he said" by Clifford D. May, a former New York Times foreign correspondent http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may071103.asp
excerpt:
------------------- It also would have been useful for the New York Times and others seeking Wilson's words of wisdom to have provided a little background on him. For example: He was an outspoken opponent of U.S. military intervention in Iraq. He's an "adjunct scholar" at the Middle East Institute — which advocates for Saudi interests. The March 1, 2002 issue of the Saudi government-weekly Ain-Al Yaqeen lists the MEI as an "Islamic research institutes supported by the Kingdom." He's a vehement opponent of the Bush administration which, he wrote in the March 3, 2003 edition of the left-wing Nation magazine, has "imperial ambitions." Under President Bush, he added, the world worries that "America has entered one of it periods of historical madness." He also wrote that "neoconservatives" have "a stranglehold on the foreign policy of the Republican Party." He said that "the new imperialists will not rest until governments that ape our world view are implanted throughout the region, a breathtakingly ambitious undertaking, smacking of hubris in the extreme." He was recently the keynote speaker for the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, a far-left group that opposed not only the U.S. military intervention in Iraq but also the sanctions — and even the no-fly zones that protected hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds and Shias from being slaughtered by Saddam. And consider this: Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Wilson did believe that Saddam had biological weapons of mass destruction. But he raised that possibility only to argue against toppling Saddam, warning ABC's Dave Marash that if American troops were sent into Iraq, Saddam might "use a biological weapon in a battle that we might have. For example, if we're taking Baghdad or we're trying to take, in ground-to-ground, hand-to-hand combat." He added that Saddam also might attempt to take revenge by unleashing "some sort of a biological assault on an American city, not unlike the anthrax, attacks that we had last year." In other words, Wilson is no disinterested career diplomat — he's a pro-Saudi, leftist partisan with an ax to grind. And too many in the media are helping him and allies grind it. -------------------

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the ping!

Wolfstar -- THANKS FOR THE RESEARCH!

Bush Doctrine Unfolds :

To find all articles tagged or indexed using Bush Doctrine Unfold , click below:
	click here >>>	Bush Doctrine Unfold	<<< click here
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks so much for the ping, Ernest. Good info.

[katze]

I read the bio, and saw nothing about Wilson being appointed as ambassador under the elder Pres Bush, as I heard on Hannity's program; also heard that VP Cheney is the one who asked Wilson to check out the Niger story.

This is really turning into more than the GOP needs, and the Dems are going to hang on like junkyard dogs.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Thanks for the "If you repeat a Lie long enough" PING.

Great freepin' research Wolfstar.

[Spiff]

XV. Thou shalt not unnecessarily excerpt!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Cool!

[raised by wolves]

What if thy three-day-old web link dost evaporate like the morning mist?

[arasina]

Good job, Wolfstar!

Pinging the Mighty Pen McKinley!

[Wolfstar]

Katze, with utmost respect, please explain your comment for my info — not a challenge, I genuinely don't understand your references. Have not kept up with all details on this story. Thanks

[Wolfstar]

Spiff, with all due respect, I exerpted this due to the length of the entire transcript. I also wanted to focus in on the important segments apropos the current controversy regarding one sentence in the State of the Union Address. It is my understanding that — although the information about the presumptively forged documents re Iraq-Niger is some seven months old — Joseph Wilson started the current brouhaha with an article of his published a week or so ago. In that article, he largely contradicts what he said in the Moyers interview last February — which isn't too surprising considering that he contradicts himself a couple of times within that interview. He seems to be nothing if not inconsistent!

Given Wilson's ties to Gore, Foley, and Clinton, there is every reason to believe this whole thing is a classic setup. Those who say they believe it was timed to come out when the President was overseas are almost certainly correct. The Dems get someone like Wilson, who has the veneer of expertise and statesmanship, to plant the story. All the key Dems in politics and media are alerted in advance so they have their attack ready to go as soon as the story is printed. Then they howl and rant and rave while the White House is off-guard due to the Africa trip. Classic backstabbing maneuver.

[katze]

The bio you posted for Wilson does not include his appointment as ambassador appointed by the elder Pres Bush. I did a search, and it appears Wilson was appointed as ambassador to Gabon, San Tome and Principe, by then-Pres George HW Bush on Jul 2, 1992. Someone on Hannity's program made reference to this, tho' not specific as to which country. Further, on the same Hannity's program, the same person (can't remember who said it) said that VP Cheney is the one who asked Wilson to check out the Niger rumor. The ambassadorship info is obviously correct, since I found several articles with the same info, yet yours (and other articles) did not mention.

I found all this odd, since Hannity called Wilson a "political hack", and when the bio you posted didn't include the info about Pres Bush appointments, from all appearances, this guy has generally been a Democrat and one of Clinton's hacks, I wondered how all this tied in.

This is of great concern to me because although I still see Tenet as a Clinton man, I feel he is being made a scapegoat, and this is an easy way to get rid of him. The Dems are going to hold on to this through the '04 campaign, IMO, and will Hillary be their saviour?

Actually, I do not believe the entire truth has yet been told. IMO, the more that is said by the WH, the worse it gets.