Rebuilding Iraq C-SPAN Washington Journal 7/3/03 (USAID Director Andrew Natsios was EXCELLENT!)

C-SPAN Washington Journal ^ | 3 July 2003

[Stultis]

Call-In
Rebuilding Iraq
C-SPAN, Washington Journal
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
ID: 177253 - 3 - 07/03/2003 - 1:02 - $29.95

Natsios, Andrew, Administrator, U.S. Agency for Intl. Development

Mr. Natsios will discuss rebuilding efforts in Iraq. Mr. Natsios is just back from a trip to Iraq where he inspected rebuilding work by USAID and other relief agencies.

[Stultis]

Natsios OWNED the call-in. He repeatedly SHAMED hard-left hand-wringers, simply with the facts. If you're reading this you MUST watch or tape the repeat at 1:49am Eastern. There is another repeat on currently, though probably almost over now.

[Stultis]

Ping!

[GOPJ]

Don't you agree most liberals push "feelings" rather than facts? They're even known as liars ... Some even come to this site and lie about being conservatives. What do you think of people like that?

[Stultis]

Most freepers, however involuntarily, DO send checks to Washington. Most of us, I'm certain, DO care about our tax monies being expended, in so far as possible, in successful programs run by competent directors. Natsios is about as competent as they come, and is a conservative to boot. Would you just as soon x dollars were being spent by incompetent liberals (pardon the redundency)?

BTW, even if you don't happen to be a net payer of taxes, it's more than a bit churlish to say you don't give a damn about how the taxes of fellow citizens are spent.

[Stultis]

Don't you agree most liberals push "feelings" rather than facts?

Absolutely, but they can also be, and often are (as I don't need to explain to regular watchers of C-SPAN call-in shows), quite shockingly hard-hearted. Natsios turned the tables on cold and billious leftists callers repeatedly throughout the show. He was brilliant and masterful in this respect (and others).

For example there was the female leftist who sneeringly pointed out Iraqis will be recieving "free" medical aid not available to Americans. (This was NOT a cantankerous oldster or anything of the like, but a spiteful leftist "spinning" the Iraqi issue to push the far-left domestic agenda.) Natsios gave a long, detailed and forceful but nonconfrontational response (I don't remember for sure, but he might have rolled his eyes while listening to the diatribe) that exposed the lefty as callous and shallow.

I don't remember the whole thing, but he pointed out that Iraqis will be recieving the most basic and necessary services, like child vaccination. He mentioned that Saddam had purposefully blocked the use of warehouses full of vaccines from aid agencies and the like before the war. (He needed to fill the childrens' coffins he paraded for the cameras as victims of the sanctions.) He discussed child mortality figures (1% in the U.S. vs. 21% in Iraq, IIRC). Buncha stuff. He nailed her hard. He did this over and over again during the show.

TAPE THIS SHOW AND GIVE IT TO A LIBERAL!!!

[Stultis]

I'm tired of spending so "one worlders " can feel good.

So don't pay. You may go to jail, but then you can devote more time to sulking.

[MEG33]

I have stopped watching because of the dem'lib callers.Glad they got pounded.

[Stultis]

If you're up for the repeat, it seemed (I missed the first) like Brian Lamb did a good long interview before going to calls.

[Tribune7]

Good thread. Thanks for posting.

[Stultis]

(Real Player) Video Links

Wshington Journal 7/3/03 Full Program
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/idrive/wj070303.rm

Natsios Portion
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/idrive/iraq_wj070303_natsios.rm

I don't know if these links work without going through the java app on the Washingtion Journal page. If not you can go there (source link for the article) and look up the show.

[Stultis]

BTW, I'll gladly trade a doubling (almost) of foreign development aid in exchange for establishing the principle that the increases are spent at U.S. rather than U.N. discretion, or means and result tested. Bush is doing brilliantly with aid, although this is not being noticed much. He's been taking huge wads of U.S. taxpayer dollars OUT of the control of global poverty pimps. The admin is channeling more and more money through public/private partnerships -- and even (effectively) private/private ones.

[Reagan is King]

I only saw part of it but he shot those left-wing callers down in flames. I'm going to try to catch the replay if I can stand to listen to the callers questions, lol.

[Aaron0617]

So, igotfreedom. You don't care about the USAID report and you say the Iraq war is worthless?

[Paradox]

He shot them down in such a professional manner, it was astounding. No matter how whacked out the caller, he managed to answer them in a serious tone, instead of laughing his head off, as I would have done. This guy knows his sh*t..

[kms61]

The companion piece on his trip to Iraq was good too, in particular the meeting with the commander of the 173d Airborne Brigade, who is in effect the military governor of Northern Iraq.

The Kurdish region seems to be running well, but the colonel said Mosul was "ours to lose" and he needed resources NOW. He seemed frustrated, and also very tired.

[AZLiberty]

I didn't catch much of the call-in, but I did catch some segments of C-SPAN's Rebuilding Iraq series over the last couple of days. I was mesmerized -- it was such a pleasure to see the powerful reality of what is going on in Iraq as the U.S. helps the Iraqis recover not from six weeks of war but from 20 years of Saddamic abuse. We have some great people over there -- both military and civilian -- and it made me proud to see them bravely, competently, and ethically doing their jobs.

Don't dismiss it because it's C-SPAN. To paraphrase Natsios, when you turn on the camera and don't turn it off for five days, you can't help but see reality, no matter how hard anyone tries to conceal it. And the reality we saw reflects very well on the United States of America.

[Stultis]

I did catch some segments of C-SPAN's Rebuilding Iraq series over the last couple of days.

Here are the video links to watch those on the net:

Rebuilding Iraq 1 of 4
Southern Iraq
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/gdrive/iraq063003_rebuild.rm

Rebuilding Iraq 2 of 4
Bahgdad & central Iraq
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/gdrive/iraq070103_rebuild.rm

Rebuilding Iraq 3 of 4
South-central Iraq
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/gdrive/iraq070203_rebuild.rm

Rebuilding Iraq 4 of 4
Northern Iraq
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/gdrive/iraq070303_rebuild.rm