This one could make waves.Posted on 01/30/2007 5:22:40 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
Edited on 01/30/2007 5:38:41 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
This one could make waves.
When a NBC military analyst made the case that US withdrawal from Iraq would have very harmful consequences, you might have expected Meredith Vieira to argue the point. But not only did the NBC host seem to buy into his logic, she took it one significant step farther.Retired LTC Rick Francona was Meredith's guest on this morning's "Today." The appearance was sparked by reports that the US has amassed firm evidence that Iran is supplying a variety of weaponry to Shia militias in Iraq, including shoulder-fired missiles and sophisticated IEDs responsible for the deaths of many Americans. The screen graphic posed the question "Is U.S. Fighting Iran in Iraq?"
Francona made his thesis clear from the get-go: "We're in a power struggle with the Iranians over who's going to exercise influence in the future in Iraq, and they want to be that power. It's either us or them."
Vieira set the stage for her off-the-Dem-reservation remarks with this question: "So they're hoping if and when we leave Iraq they will fill the power vacuum that is left?"
View video here.Francona: "Exactly. They want their Shia proxies to do it. They're going to be supporting the government as well as these multiple Shia militias because they believe the Americans are going to go home very shortly. They've made that assessment, and when that happens they want to be sure that power vacuum is filled by Iranians."
Vieira: "So their activities are aimed less at the US and more at inflaming a civil war, then."
Francona: "They're aimed not directly at the US. But by taking actions against the US they hasten our withdrawal. Everything they do is calculated on being the surviving power there. If that means killing American forces, supplying weapons to the different insurgent groups, they're going to do that. Anything they can do to get us out of there."
Vieira: "Do you believe that Iran and the US are already involved in a proxy war in Iraq?"
Francona: "I think the Iranians have looked at it that way for some time now. . . I think they believed they're involved in that kind of war already. I think we're just coming around to that realization."
That's when Meredith, shockingly, asked a question that seemed not merely to embrace Francona's view, but to take it the logical step further:
"If their plan really is to fill this gap once we leave this country, then can we afford to leave the country?"
Francona: "I don't think we can afford to leave it in the hands of the Iranians. Now, how we do that is really the big question. Is there some way that we can prop up an Iraqi government so they do what we want them to do rather than what the Iranians want them to do? It's one or the other. I don't think we're going to come to some middle ground here."
This interview could make some serious waves. Didn't Meredith get Hillary's memo? We've got to be out by the end of W's term!
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
Cold-July-in-Baghdad ping to Today show list.
Well, better late than never :)
She's showing a mind of her own. How did she ever survive in the MSM?
minor point- it's LtCol Rick Francona (USAF ret)
Ask Hillary about Bosnia.
****
This is a good interview to hear, but I fear that it is just a snowflake in a blizzard of lefty weather.
Of all the blather we've had from The Beast the last two weeks that statement rankled me the most! Talk about bald-faced hypocrisy!
She deserves the Stopped Clock Award.
Iran also wants to stop Iraq's oil production as well as the freedom people have to earn a living. The average Iraqi makes 10 times what an Iranian earns.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Then the MSM can whine "Bush left Iraq prematurely and deserted our friends the Iraqis to be dominated by the awful Iranian regime!" No matter what, they will always call him wrong.
Iran doesn't want to exercise influence in just Iraq .. but the whole middle east
My question is ... Why did these numbnuts finally decided to admit this on TV?
They've known for a very long time what's at stake
Whoops! Many thanks for pointing out my error - not so minor! Terry Francona is the manager of the Red Sox! I've fixed on my own over at NB, and will ask admin mod to correct here!
That's right . . . before his career as a major league baseball player and then as manager of the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, Terry Francona was a light colonel.
"Thank God I didn't go to West Point," said Francona. "If I had, the humiliation would have been just all too consuming."
I cannot pull up the video- was the guest this morning Terry Francona or Rick Francona? Rick is an NBC military analyst and regional specialist (was Schwarzkopf's personal translator during DESERT STORM).
Go ahead, rub it in - I deserve it! ;-)
Guest was Rick and the admin mod has kindly fixed the error. Again, thanks for bringing to my attention.
As always, any conversation which includes a member of the MSM showing a brief moment of clarity will be either be instantly forgotten or countered heavily once they find the "correct" analyst to refute.
Heh heh heh! It's all good---you're just a subliminal member of Red Sox Nation. Welcome to the cult!
Call it my Bill Buckner moment ;-)
Give it time.....
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.