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Williams: We Have Guys on Our Team Like Terrorists - Special Forces, First Responders
Hardball/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

Posted on 08/10/2006 7:11:55 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest

by Mark Finkelstein

August 10, 2006 - 22:01

Hat tip to poster 'nutmeg' at Free Republic.

Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News might have meant to praise the heroism and selflessness of our various service people. But he employed what was at best an incredibly awkward, at worst an inappropriate, offensive and simply wrong manner of doing it.

On this evening's 7 PM ET edition of Hardball, Chris Matthews mused about the UK-born terrorists whose plot was foiled today:

"Here we have maybe 24 people who have lived in London and England and the free world for all these years that become citizens, subjects of the Crown, and, yet, after having gotten to know us, they want to kill themselves to hurt us. Isn't that an even deeper conundrum here than the chemicals being used in these attacks?"

Williams: "And that, Chris, that last aspect, the willingness to take one's own life -- I always tell people there are guys on our team like that, too. They're called Army Rangers and Navy Seals and the Special Forces folks and the first responders on 9/11 who went into those buildings knowing, by the way, they weren't going to come out. So we have players like that on our team."

Wrong. Our people are highly trained to accomplish their mission in a manner that gives them the best possible chance of survival. Yes, they heroically assume great risks, knowingly putting their lives on the line. But it is grotesquely mistaken for Williams to suggest that their commanders are sending them on suicide missions. To compare them with terrorists - often young, confused people being exploited by cynical masters who send them to their deaths - is disgraceful.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 911; armyrangers; brianwilliams; chrismatthews; firstresponders; hardball; london; msnbc; navyseals; nbcnews; nbcnightlynews; specialforces; terrorists; terrorplot; uhohhowlin; uk
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To: Howlin

I look at this as Williams just being a liberal, incompetent boob. I don't think he honestly meant to compare our SEALs and Rangers to Muslim terrorists. He grossly misspoke and FReepers should chalk it up to stupidity and not get too bent out of shape over this.


41 posted on 08/10/2006 7:33:54 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (404 Page Error Found)
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To: no dems

I made that point in the post's opening sentence. Nevertheless, he should never, ever have mentioned terrorists and our special forces in the same breath. And his comment really does ignore the fundamental difference of the terrorist seeking to kill innocent civilians and our guys taking risks to protect them.


42 posted on 08/10/2006 7:34:27 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest (Watching the Today Show since 2002 so you don't have to.)
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To: Howlin
He misspoke.

Well then, I hope he clarifies his mistake.Soon.

43 posted on 08/10/2006 7:34:31 PM PDT by airborne (`)
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To: TChad

I included the closed-caption transcript in the original post.


44 posted on 08/10/2006 7:35:15 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest (Watching the Today Show since 2002 so you don't have to.)
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To: Don'tMessWithTexas

It's just that the liberals attempts at being/appearing patriotic is so unnatural for them that it comes out all goofed up!!
Pitiful.


45 posted on 08/10/2006 7:35:28 PM PDT by jackv (just shakin' my head)
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To: Howlin

William's remarks are the same as Reggie White's speech years ago about how whites make money, how Hispanics fit a dozen people in a home, how blacks can sing and dance, how Asians make things out of nothing...It sounds stupid to say on its face but underneath it all there's a grain of truth.


46 posted on 08/10/2006 7:37:20 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (404 Page Error Found)
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To: TChad

I'll post what I posted on the other thread:

Yes, I heard it; and I didn't take it this way at all.

It was in reply to a question Matthews asked after the two of them had been discussing today's terror plot; Williams was saying that we, Americans, had to come to terms with this being the way it is now, with our "enemy" not coming over the nearest ridge with helments on, but are "our enemies" come toward us in "slender tubes at 39,000 feet.

They were discussing this in the context of them versus the west; Matthews asked him how he thought we could ever defeat an enemy who was born in Britain, lived in Britain, and still was willing to die for his religion, ie., these ARE Westerners.

Williams said he wasn't sure how we'd ever manage that -- and that's when he got ahead of himself.

I didn't think a thing about it, other than the fact that he didn't realize how he PHRASED the answer.




***And you have to understand that Matthews started off this segment by saying that John Edwards had been on at the 5 p.m. show and said that if the Muslims could just MEET us and TALK to us, they'd love us.


47 posted on 08/10/2006 7:37:50 PM PDT by Howlin (Pres.Bush ought to be ashamed of himself for allowing foreign countries right on our borders!!~~Zook)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

"I always tell people"

Not off the cuff.


48 posted on 08/10/2006 7:37:56 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Carry Daily, Apply Sparingly.)
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To: Mo1
But putting our guys in the same category of the terrorists is way out of line

Look at what he is saying. He's telling people that WE have people who are willing to die for their country. He's not comparing them, IMO.

49 posted on 08/10/2006 7:39:50 PM PDT by Howlin (Pres.Bush ought to be ashamed of himself for allowing foreign countries right on our borders!!~~Zook)
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To: Diogenesis; All
Can someone post the cartoon of the terrorist using human shields versus the soldier shielding a mother and baby carriage.
50 posted on 08/10/2006 7:40:00 PM PDT by Zon (Honesty outlives the lie, spin and deception -- It always has -- It always will.)
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To: Howlin

Hm. I use that analogy all of the time!! When people start that line about how many have died in Iraq, I ALWAYS say "and how may die in LA a year, where there's not even a war!??! Should we pull out from there too??"
Shuts them right up!


51 posted on 08/10/2006 7:40:37 PM PDT by jackv (just shakin' my head)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist; governsleastgovernsbest
and FReepers should chalk it up to stupidity and not get too bent out of shape over this

As I said on the other thread, I KNEW it would offend somebody on here and wasn't the least bit surprised to see a thread up -- complete with the misrepresentation.

NOT THIS THREAD. governsleastgovernsbest did a great job of getting this done (except for the title......LOL..he didn't say anything close to that).

52 posted on 08/10/2006 7:42:04 PM PDT by Howlin (Pres.Bush ought to be ashamed of himself for allowing foreign countries right on our borders!!~~Zook)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

Just want to be clear it wasn't this "Williams".


53 posted on 08/10/2006 7:48:59 PM PDT by Williams
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To: Howlin
Look at what he is saying. He's telling people that WE have people who are willing to die for their country. He's not comparing them, IMO.

Did Williams say willing to die for their country or take ones life??

I trust your opinion .. and I'm sure you are correct that he misspoke

But I have to admit .. what was reported up thread comes off very badly on Williams

54 posted on 08/10/2006 7:51:13 PM PDT by Mo1 (Bolton- "No one has explained how you negotiate a ceasefire with terrorists")
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To: Williams

OK, you're officially off the hook ;-)


55 posted on 08/10/2006 7:51:17 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest (Watching the Today Show since 2002 so you don't have to.)
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Comment #56 Removed by Moderator

To: governsleastgovernsbest

I commented over here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681486/posts

I thought it was your post without even looking. LOL

Everyone very angry about this, too.


57 posted on 08/10/2006 7:52:47 PM PDT by AmericaUnite
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To: governsleastgovernsbest
I included the closed-caption transcript in the original post.

Those sentences are the whole exchange? Oh come on, if that's all there is, there's nothing.

Here is my paraphrase of Williams's comment:

Our enemies have proven their willingness to die for their cause, but we have extraordinary warriors on our side who are willing to die to stop them.

Enough of this nonsense.

58 posted on 08/10/2006 7:53:02 PM PDT by TChad
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To: TChad

It's always possible, of course, that Williams was only attempting to comment on the assumption that those on both sides have people who feel they are acting bravely, despite the relative causes, and that he didn't mean to directly compare the causes themselves and raise them to the same level of legitimacy and importance. To be fair, it wouldn't be too far out of the question to give Williams the benefit of the doubt on this one.

But, that he would so quickly wish to somehow prove that Jihadists are also "brave" in that they are willing to give their lives to their causes is, in itself, disturbingly close to also equalizing their cause to legitimacy and "goodness" -- whether he wanted to or not.

After all, how "brave" is it to give your life for an evil cause?

Let's face it, in our society one equates giving your life for your country to the highest form of bravery. And that bravery is used in a positive context, as opposed to a negative one. So, Williams' positively denoting a Jihadist's willingness to give his life for his cause would, in general parlayence, reflect that said Jihadists are also brave. This would lead one to an assumption that the cause that one is dying for is also worth being brave for!

So, sadly, Williams seems to see no difference between the bravery of our soldiers and emergency services personnel and that of those who would die for those 72 virgins. And, if he so quickly imagines that Jihadists are also brave enough to die for their cause then we cannot escape the conclusion that he either sees neither cause (the Jihadist's or ours) as any better one from the other, or he really DOES think both causes have the same legitimacy.

Either way, his sense of moral judgment is in doubt at this point


59 posted on 08/10/2006 7:54:40 PM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
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To: TChad

Yea, IF ONLY HE HAD SAID THAT!!

The point, tho, is that he didn't!


60 posted on 08/10/2006 7:56:15 PM PDT by jackv (just shakin' my head)
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