| |
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Bill O’Reilly Interviews Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger
on Fox’s “The Pulse” 
(Transcript of August 22 interview) O’Reilly (O): We saved your butt after World War II. We rebuilt your country with my money, my father’s money, my grandfather’s money. And we protected you against the Russians in the Cold War, as you know. Now, Americans are saying to Germany, give us the benefit of the doubt, please. We believe Saddam Hussein is a threat to the whole world. We believe he has biological weapons, he is working on nuclear. We know he has got Russian scientists in there; you know he has got Russian scientists in there. What are they doing, the tango over there? We know what they are doing. Let us remove a person who is a threat to the entire world and you guys say: “Nein”. What’s up with that?
Ischinger (I): Bill, I am really glad that you are not the President of the United States because I think what you are saying here is really quite irresponsible. The President of the United States, for whom I have the greatest respect, has not made that determination that he is going to send the troops in. He knows and we know and you know that sending the military into this kind of a mission requires a lot of careful thinking, and they are doing that. There are going to be risks involved. And I understand that you have in this country a broad debate, and what we have in our country is exactly the same kind of debate. O: Saddam Hussein, a dangerous man, in your opinion? I: Absolutely. O: Ok. Capable of weapons of mass destruction in your opinion? I: Absolutely. O: What is to stop Saddam Hussein from putting smallpox in a suitcase and handing it to one of his operatives going to Damaskus and giving it to al Qaeda. What is to stop him from doing that? I: Nothing. O: Nothing. The point of the matter is this, Saddam Hussein is a dangerous man. We all know it. He is capable of doing anything, we all know it. I believe your country owes it to America to back us up in the decision we make. I: If your country makes the decision, my country will come up with a response. We are at the beginning of a debate about complex issues that have not yet been answered. O: And why would Schröder, the Chancellor of Germany, flat out say, we are not going to help the United States if they go after him militarily. I: We have our hands full with the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Why do we have to go against Iraq right now? Are you really sure that containment has failed? O: An excellent question: Why do we have to go against Iraq right now? Because at any time this man might get the weapons to wipe out 50,000 Germans or Americans, at any time. Why give him a free shot, Mr. Ambassador? I: We are not interested in giving him a free shot. We agree that he constitutes a real threat. But look around the world. How many countries in the Middle East are saying to you, wonderful, let’s attack Saddam? Not a single one. How many European countries are ready to go ahead? Not a single one, not even England. O: Why, are they afraid of him? I: Because they believe that we have to take this step by step. Let me make one final point. I really don’t agree with you, Bill, that the Germans are not grateful and appreciative of what Americans have done over the last 50 years. We owe our liberty and our freedom to America and we feel quite strongly about solidarity. But solidarity in my book does not necessarily mean that we sort of clap our heels and say, “yes, sir”, if we believe that a decision about war needs to be taken. O: Now, my gut tells me that in the end Germany will support the USA
against Iraq. But as always I could be wrong. Links |
|
 Newsletters
 Printer-Friendly
Page
Email This Article |
||
|
|||||
|
|||||
