Gen. Schwarzkopf's Surprising Comments on Jay Leno's Tonight Show 12/6/01

The Tonight Show - no specific url for this report | December 7, 2001 | self

[americalost]

In case any of you missed it: I was astonished to hear the following words out of former hero Gen. Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf, in response to Jay's question whether or not Chairman Arafat is a terrorist:

"You know, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter."

He then espoused the virtues of the 'coalition' and how 'we must be careful' what we say, and at the end was proud of his collaboration on a children's book, especially as it meant he's worked with Whoopi Goldberg.

[americalost]

Is this pansy attitude a new thing for Schwarzkopf or am I just new to the fact that he's been a liberal all along?

[bluetoad]

Schwarzkopf goes Hollywood...

[TADSLOS]

He's been bitten by the the Hollywood stardom bug. The effects are uncurable.

[MJM59]

In the eyes of the British, I am sure that George Washington and Samual Adams were terrorists. So, his statement is true. Just take it for what it is, a simple truth.

[Caipirabob]

Another victim falls prey to the "Dark Side" of the force...

[Ward Smythe]

In the eyes of the British, I am sure that George Washington and Samual Adams were terrorists.

Exactly. I guess my confederate ancestors were also terrorists...

[denydenydeny]

Strange New Respect...

[RedBloodedAmerican]

What he was saying is to the USA he is a terrorist; to the PLO he is a freedom fighter. That's what he meant. I thought it was an excellent quote. It put things in black and white, no grey, no PC crap.

[americalost]

Yeah. You're right of course. I just found it sad. In wartime Schwarzkopf is more interested in pandering to liberals and his and Powell's precious coalition than in having a backbone in support of our ally Israel, and for that matter our own troops. If Hussein were to lob some stuff Israel's way our boys should join with the Israelis -- unless we've got traitor generals in the ranks today as well. At least Slick is out of office, Thank You GOD.

It makes me wonder how Schwarzkopf felt during the Gulf War, and it makes me ponder G.W.'s father's attitudes as well.

[Cacophonous]

Listen, it shouldn't be a shock. It is an extreme rarity for anyone to rise above Lt Col (or Commander for the squids) without political connections, aspirations, and/or the ability to mouth politically correct nonsense.

"In Washington, nothing happens by accident. If it happened, it was planned that way."
Theodore Roosevelt

[americalost]

What he was saying is to the USA he is a terrorist; to the PLO he is a freedom fighter. That's what he meant.

Of course, and we all know that. The thing is, when asked how he felt about it, he didn't qualify the statement by saying To Me, He's A Terrorist. Arafat obviously is a terrorist.

I didn't think it was an excellent quote at all. A salvage of that quote would have been, "This is the way SOME people think, but America's fresh wounds have made us realize: Israel has suffered for too long at the hands of this terrorist. Yes, I think he's a terrorist. We'll see if he gets his act together here shortly, because the writing is on the wall." Something like that would have impressed me.

[thusevertotyrants]

Pointing out that what one person views as a terrorist is viewed by another as a freedom fighter does NOT make him a liberal, nor does it mean he condones their actions or supports their cause. It is merely a statement of fact.

[americalost]

In the context of the rest of the (two segment) interview, he looked pretty liberalized. I didn't post the whole transcript because it was long.

[thusevertotyrants]

I dont think Norman cares about whether his comments impress you

[thusevertotyrants]

of course you didnt post the rest of the segment - you offered one segment, out of context, in order that you may espouse your hatred of all that you perceive as "liberal"

[jimt]

Freedom fighters launch attacks on the enemy's military targets, with the aim of killing enough military folks or destroying enough of their materiel that they'll capitulate.

Terrorists launch attacks indiscriminately, often targeting civilians because it's easy, with the aim of creating fear among the population so they'll pressure their government to capitulate.

There's a clear difference in the targets chosen.

[mlocher]

you know, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter

is this pansy attitude a new thing for schwarzkopf...?

i don't view these as pansy words at all. they are words of wisdom. we think they are terrorists, the al-qaeda thinks of themselves as freedom fighters. when you are dealing with some who is wrong, and they think that they are so right that they will die for their cause, you are dealing with insanity. one must eradicate them.

if the terrorists thought of themselves as terrorists, there might be a chance to negotiate peace. schwarzkopf is speaking from a very macho perspective.

[MJM59]

To some, at the time, I am sure that they were. It depends how they conducted themselves during a time of war.

[Moridin]

IMO, military officers should leave the politics to the President. Officers' only concern should be to kill and break things.

[Keith]

...no, they were rebels...by their own admission. By the strict sense they were traitors, by taking up arms against the federal gov't. Fortunately, Abraham Lincoln was president, not Sen. Chase.