|
printable version
- js reader version
- view hidden posts
- tags and related articles
by Rosalinda
Friday, Mar. 07, 2003 at 6:02 PM
Asked by Bill Moyer about Perle's arguments for a war,
Wilson said, ``Well, he's certainly the architect of a study
that was produced in the mid-'90s for the Likud Israeli government called `A Clean Break, A New Strategy for the Realm.' and it makes the argument that the best way to secure Israeli security is through the changing of some of these regimes beginning with Iraq and also including Syria. And that's been since expanded to include Iran.''
[Source: PBS transcript of Bill Moyers interview with Joseph C. Wilson, IV, Monday, March 3, 2003.]
THE LAST U.S. DCM IN BAGHDAD WARNS OF CONSEQUENCES OF IRAQ WAR AND ASSAILS PERLE AS LIKUDNIK. Joseph Wilson, who was the last U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Baghdad on the eve of the 1991 Gulf War, told Bill Moyers in a PBS-TV interview Monday night, that the U.S. should stick with intrusive inspections and abandon plans for a war to unseat Saddam Hussein. He debunked the idea that the ``shock and awe'' massive aerial bombardment of Baghdad, planned as the opening shot of any war, will have few civilian casualties.
He warned that, under conditions of a U.S. attack, Saddam would fight to the death, with tens of thousands of Republican Guard crack troops joining him in a final, disastrous battle. But the most important feature of the Wilson interview was his denunciation of Richard Perle and the whole ``Clean Break'' strategy.
Asked about Perle's arguments for a war, Wilson said, ``Well, he's certainly the architect of a study that was produced in the mid-'90s for the Likud Israeli government called `A Clean Break, A New Strategy for the Realm.'
And it makes the argument that the best way to secure Israeli security is through the changing of some of these regimes beginning with Iraq and also including Syria. And that's been since expanded to include Iran.''
While defending America's committment, since 1948, to protect Israel's existence, he also noted, ``There are those who believe that perhaps we've confused our responsibilities with the slavish adherence to the Likud strategy.''
He also scored President Bush for his close ties to Sharon, telling Moyers, ``...there are those who wonder about the depth of our ties and the extent to which our national security responsibilities may somehow be confused with our support for the current government in Israel.''
He also went into an in-depth warning about the consequences of foisting ``democracy'' on Iraq by fiat, predicting that future elections would pit ``demagogues'' against ``populists'' and that they'd compete for who would be more anti-American and anti-Israeli.
He concluded by emphasizing that, in his judgment, the road to peace in the Middle East had to run through Jerusalem, not through Baghdad.
LEESBURG, March 4 -- ``THERE IS STILL TIME'' TO STOP THE IRAQ WAR, SAID SENIOR DEMOCRATIC SEN. TED KENNEDY (D-MA) in a March 4 interview on NBC TV's``Today Show.'' He called for a full Senate debate against the war to take place NOW, and later the same day, addressed a major Methodist conference in Washington.
In the interview, when hit point-blank by inteviewer Katie Couric's assertion that ``a lot of people are speculating that at the end of next week, a war will begin, after the U.N. votes on that second resolution,'' Kennedy made clear that {war is not inevitable.}
He said:
``Well, there's still time. {Certainly a lot has happened. A lot has changed at the United Nations, hasn't it, over the period of the last 10 days? And I would hope that the administration would get the word.} (clearly referencing the international opposition, demos, etc). The fact is, we are stronger when we work together.''
``We need the United Nations in North Korea, don't we? We have to work with our allies in Asia on North Korea because of its danger, don't we? Yes. And we have to work with our allies in other pressure points around the world. That's a fact. And we shouldn't have a go-it-alone, rush-to-war policy, which this administration has.''
Later in the day, Kennedy was the featured speaker at the United Methodist Church Conference in Washington, where he said (among other things), ``With inspectors on the ground and stiff international pressure still possible, this is an unnecessary war.''
It is extremely significant that Kennedy, an opponent of the Iraq war, was invited by the Methodist conference, since this is the Protestant denomination to which George W. Bush belongs, and which is beginning to mobilize heavily against the war.
The head of the United Methodist Church has been trying for months to meet with Bush, and the White House has rebuffed the Methodist leader, and his colleagues from the National Council of Churches.
Kennedy not only opposed the war, but gave a very effective point-by-point criticism of Bush's actions. He said that after so much international support for America, after 9/11, ``President Bush squandered too much of the good will of the world community because of his single-minded rush to war with Iraq, even if he has a few, or even no allies to go to war with him...."
To much applause, Kennedy also blasted Bush's Feb. 26 speech about so-called "democracy" at the American Enterprise Institute on Feb. 26.
Ridiculing the claims that war would lead to peace, stability and prosperity, not just for the Iraqi people, but for the Palestinians as well, Kennedy said, "We all heard of rosy scenarios, but that was ridiculous!"
Report this post as:
|