Posted on 12/13/2005 2:32:07 PM PST by new yorker 77
NBC News
Updated: 1:01 p.m. ET Dec. 11, 2005
....
MR. RUSSERT: But first, the war in Iraq. Joining us, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.
Welcome both.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Thank you.
FMR. SEC'Y MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Nice to be with you.
.... skipping to Graham
SEN. GRAHAM: Well, I hope we have a larger turnout. We're about to democratically elect a parliament. We haven't done that yet. These are people who actually are running for office that will write laws for the Iraqi people. It will be a chance for the Iraqi people to chart their own destiny. That is a huge sea change in the Mideast. I hope it goes well. Speeches by the president have been helpful. They've been long overdue. Senator Lieberman believes there's been a change in the policy for the good. I do, too.
But here's the problem. When you tell people it costs $50 billion is all it's going to cost to rebuild Iraq, as Mr. Wolfowitz did, when you tell people that the insurgency is 1/10th of 1 percent and it still goes on after four years, there's a price to pay for underestimating how hard this is, and I think that's been the president's problem. He has made some policy statements in speeches recognizing problems. And as Senator Lieberman has found, we are doing better. We're cleaning, we're holding and we're building cities that have been reoccupied by the terrorists. And I don't think we're going to have any major troop withdrawals any time soon if we're really serious about protecting this infant democracy.
....
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
MR. RUSSERT: You don't think any significant troop withdrawals in 2006?
SEN. GRAHAM: Well, I hope it's not politically motivated. I hope it's based on what's going on on the ground. The Saddam Hussein trial is the best evidence yet of where we're at in Iraq. You've got a dictator standing trial for the crimes against his people. That's a wonderful thing. But the trial is being conducted in an atmosphere that you can't run a country. You can't have the defense attorneys assassinated, the judges attacked, the courtroom shelled. So that shows two things, that we're doing better, the dictator is now facing his crimes, but the security environment in Iraq is so tenuous that there's no way, in my opinion, we can leave any time soon. How can you have a legal system where people in the legal system are getting killed?
MR. RUSSERT: Has the Saddam trial been a negative for the U.S.?
SEN. GRAHAM: I think it's been a very positive experience for the people in Iraq because they can see the benefit of what happened with our involvement. They're getting to chart their own destiny by voting Thursday. And they're getting to bring a guy to trial who's oppressed the people and killed their family members. That's a good thing. But for us to deny the fact that we're a long way from a secure Iraq needs to stop. How can you have a secure Iraq when the defense attorneys and the judges are being killed?
MR. RUSSERT: But has Saddam manipulated it for his own propaganda successfully?
SEN. GRAHAM: I don't think so. I think every time he speaks and every time he fails to show up or make statements, it reinforces the fact to the people that he's on the way out. I think it's a good thing for the Iraqi people to see it. And I think if we misunderstand what's going on in Iraq, the level of security that we'll need to leave behind is not even close to being there.
SEN. GRAHAM: You just have to be blind not to understand what's going on in the country. The truth is that people in South Carolina are doing what they're doing all over the nation, they're wondering why it's taking so long. We've undersold how hard this would be. Without violence it took years to get Germany and Japan from dictatorships to democracy. Yet, at every turn we've underestimated how hard it would be. We've underestimated the actual economic cost, how hard it would be to build an economy up after the fall of Baghdad. We've never had enough troops. We've paid a price in the past for our missteps. We've assumed the best and never planned for the worst and it's hurt us. It's hurt us with our own people, it's hurt us internationally.
Things are changing for the better. The worst thing we could do, in my opinion, is to leave this infant democracy behind, without the ability to have a reasonable chance to develop in the future. It could turn into a regional war if they fail in Iraq. It does matter what happens in Iraq in terms of our own national security. Have we made mistakes? Yes. The biggest mistake would be to leave because of '06 politics.
MR. RUSSERT: In terms of the tone of the debate, the Republican National Committee has put on its Web site a new advertisement and here it is in part. Let's watch.
(Videotape, RNC Web site):
DR. HOWARD DEAN: The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Waving a white flag, is that appropriate?
SEN. GRAHAM: The '06 election is going to come and go. Iraq will be still a problem after '06. I don't think it's appropriate. Howard Dean is wrong when he says we can't win. It doesn't mean he's not a patriot. Murtha wants to leave the region and deploy outside of Iraq. I think he's wrong, doesn't mean he's a patriot. John Kerry wants to cut the force by two-thirds. I think he's wrong, doesn't mean he's not a patriot. Lieberman says stay the course.
The--there is no a political consensus in this country. Democrats and Republicans are struggling. We've lost our national unity when it comes to Iraq. What happens in Iraq will matter to this country long after '06. I wish we would quit running ads against each other and try to find consensus. Maybe this would be one of the things we could agree on. What happens in Iraq matters to the region and to our own national security. Come up with a plan that will allow us to leave honorably and give these people who are dying in droves in Iraq for their own freedom a reasonable chance to be successful.
MR. RUSSERT: So it is your opinion that you would prefer the Republican National Committee to pull that ad down?
SEN. GRAHAM: Yes. I don't want to have a campaign about who's a patriot. I want to have a campaign that would unite the country, find consensus on Iraq and talk about our political differences in terms that make us stronger, not weaker. And we're going to drive a wedge among ourselves that will make the world less safe, including ourselves.
.... There is more, but you can look at the full transcript.
Graham repeats every lib talking point about mistakes made and then calls for the GOP ad to be pulled.
He is a disgrace.
He pretty clearly has been elevated beyond his capabilities.
I wish the RNC (or some freeper) would add to the white flag ad a clip of Graham talking to Russert and have the white flag waving in the background. Just paste it to near the end of the ad.
Oh, those pictures! He looks like such a doofus.
But, many of us have been warned, we are not to talk about the negatives within the party, only the positives. So be forewarned if the lecturers show up! LOL
He kisses McLain's butt every chance he gets, a big mistake for SC.
Looks like a doofus? Graham IS a doofus. He belongs in the GOP because he is a Generally Obnoxious Politician.
It's called The Peter Principle
You can look it up. I've met dozens of these fools in business. And fired 'em.
I would like to see Lindsey talk while McCain drinks a glass of water.
You mean `Tinkerbelle', AKA `Flimsy Graham'?
I called his office once, to disagree. His staffers loudly demanded my name and address. Apparently, any dissenter is a potential assassin.
Watching him try to fill Strom Thurmond's shoes is laughable.
He is a disgrace.
Time to put him in the ad with the rest of the white flag wavers.
Graham & McCain = Dill & Farcas
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.