Posted on 01/27/2004 5:24:28 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
If one reasonably fair-and-balanced Today Show interview is a fluke, could two be a trend?
Back on January 15th, I reported on Katie Couric's interview with Ted Kennedy in which she had been remarkably tough on the senior splasher from Massachusetts regarding his speech on Iraq.
This morning, it was Matt Lauer's turn to offer, dare I say it, a thoroughly fair performance in his interview of former chief US weapons inspector in Iraq David Kay.
From a national security and political perspective, what was much more important than the tone of Lauer's questions was the substance of Kay's remarks. Democrats looking to exploit Kay's earlier remarks to accuse the Bush administration of misleading the American people will come away from this interview bitterly disappointed, their arguments in tatters.
For on every issue down the line, Kay forcefully made the case that the Bush administration acted in good faith, that Saddam was indeed a threat, and that war against him was absolutely justified.
Began Lauer: "Some people have relied on your earlier statement to say that the US misled the American people into war on the basis of a claim that Saddam had WMDs. Do you think the US misled the American people?"
Kay: "It wasn't only the US who came to that conclusion. The French, Germans, and UN all thought Saddam had WMDs."
Lauer: "If you didn't find WMDs, does that mean they never existed, or could they have been moved prior to war?"
Kay: "We looked at that possiblity but we didn't find evidence that there were large stockpiles prior to the war."
Lauer than ran a clip from Pres. Bush's State of the Union Address from one year ago, in which he stated that Saddam had been employing huge resources to develop WMDs and had built up a large stockpile.
Lauer: "Was that inaccurate?"
Kay: "It was inaccurate in terms of the reality we found on the ground now, but it was accurate in terms of the intelligence at the time.
"It was also accurate in the sense that Saddam did spend large sums of money trying to get WMDs but he simply didn't get what he paid for.
"There was lots of corruption in the Iraq WMD development program."
Lauer: "So scientists lied to Saddam, they told him they could develop WMDs, took huge sums of money and didn't deliver?"
Kay: "Right. There was widespread corruption, lots of money wasted. People were concerned about the money, not about working."
Lauer: "But the intent to develop WMDs was there?"
Kay: "Absolutely, Saddam surely wanted to get WMDs and spent a lot of money trying to do so."
Lauer then showed a clip from Colin Powell at the UN saying Saddam had at least 500 tons of WMDs. Again, Kay explained that Powell was not being intentionally misleading and that his statement was based on the best intelligence available at the time.
Added Kay, responding to what some of the Dems are alleging: "To say there must have been pressure from the White House on the intelligence community is wrong. We've also been wrong about Iran and Libya. We clearly need better intelligence."
Lauer then quoted from Kay's earlier interview with Tom Brokaw in which Kay had said that "if anyone was abused (by faulty intelligence) it was the President of the US rather than the other way around."
Kay confirmed the accuracy of that remark.
Lauer: "Is it true that in 2000 and 2001 Saddam was pushing his nuclear progarm?"
Kay: "Yes, he was pushing hard for nuclear and long range missiles. Look, it's clear the man had the intent. He simply wasn't successful."
"He clearly lied to UN and was in material brach."
In a key moment in the interview, Lauer asked: "Based on everything you now know, was it prudent to go to war against Saddam?"
Kay: "It was absolutely prudent to go to war. The system was collapsing, Iraq was a country with desire to develop WMDs, and it was attracting terrorists like flies to honey."
Lauer: "Are your earlier comments being exploited for political reasons?"
"Inevitably yes, but what we have is a national security issue that shouldn't be exploited as a political issue."
Lauer: "Should we continue to search for WMDs as VP Cheney has suggested?
Kay: "Absolutely."
Not to mention hiding all the mass graves, filled with tens of thousands of people. The liberals' inability to use the most fundamental of reasoning processes and common sense is truly astounding.
Perfectly and simply said. Count on you to get it right so easily! Danke!
George Tenet has ALWAYS been Bush's Weakest Link!!!
Seems to me like he is positioning himself for an upcoming book release or something.
Probably, Lauer was just flummoxed and confused, in which case the preferred fall-back approach for a TV "Cocking Head" is to smile and be agreeable.
When did this all start to be about "stockpiles?"
You could a million people with bio/chem and never have a "stockpile" of it.
Kay: "Absolutely, Saddam surely wanted to get WMDs and spent a lot of money trying to do so."
I would have bet the whole planet on this one, there never was doubt.
There's another kind? Oh yeah; the dimwits, the nitwits, the twits....and of course, the most prevalent of all....the "what wits?"
I'm sooo disappointed...haha.
Don't worry, those two will be back on track after their next NY cocktail party.
The RATS Are In Disarray ~ Eradicate The Rodents!
Fire Democrats ~ Hire Republicans!
Not necessarily; just an ability to follow their marching orders from the queen b*tch herself. They are easily manipulated because they are weak-minded fools.
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