Bush Sought ‘Way’ To Invade Iraq? (O'Neill 60 Min. transcript)

[paulthompson]

The complete transcript to O'Neill's interview on 60 Minutes is now online, even though the show hasn't been aired yet:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml

Note that this link is different than the below one, which is just a summary instead of the entire transcript:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml

Lots of new information in here. For instance, we get to find out who the real President is (for those who didn't know):

The former treasury secretary accuses Vice President Dick Cheney of not being an honest broker, but, with a handful of others, part of "a praetorian guard that encircled the president" to block out contrary views. "This is the way Dick likes it," says O’Neill.

And more documentation on Iraq before 9/11:

Not only did O'Neill give Suskind his time, he gave him 19,000 internal documents. “Everything's there: Memoranda to the President, handwritten "thank you" notes, 100-page documents. Stuff that's sensitive,” says Suskind, adding that in some cases, it included transcripts of private, high-level National Security Council meetings. “You don’t get higher than that.”

“From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go,” says O’Neill, who adds that going after Saddam was topic "A" 10 days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.

“From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was about what we can do to change this regime,” says Suskind. “Day one, these things were laid and sealed.”

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Holy Crap!!!!!! (snip)

“He asks, ‘Haven't we already given money to rich people? This second tax cut's gonna do it again,’” says Suskind.

“He says, ‘Didn’t we already, why are we doing it again?’” Now, his advisers, they say, ‘Well Mr. President, the upper class, they're the entrepreneurs. That's the standard response.’ And the president kind of goes, ‘OK.’ That's their response. And then, he comes back to it again. ‘Well, shouldn't we be giving money to the middle, won't people be able to say, ‘You did it once, and then you did it twice, and what was it good for?’"





:wow:

[mhr]

3. Underscores How Poorly Informed This Man Really Is On Tax Policy

One wonders how many F's He really made at Harvard Business School.

He gives all MBA holders a very bad name.

[LiberalFighter]

10. My opinion about MBA's

I don't know if they use the same class structure like they do at a local college here but if they do then not all MBA's have earned their degree.

If your grade is based on what the group you are assigned to would you let a member of your group screw up or would you make sure that his assignment was completed even if you had to do it yourself?

So the question is how many assignments in the MBA class did he receive C's instead of D's or F's? Too bad we don't know who the students that were in that same class.

[Occulus]

83. Your final line is redundant.

:)

[Just Me]

69. SERIOUSLY, AMBUSH THIS MAN WITH APOLITICAL SUPPORT!!!

HE'S GONNA NEED IT,...YOU AND I KNOW IT!!!

[fjc]

85. Holy crap is right!

That passage says it all. If I were the Democratic nominee, I'd put it on the tube, repeatedly. It shows that Bush is not at all in charge, not to mention the trashing of the middle class. It's devastating.

[alfredo]

2. Two words: impeach, imprison.

The bush junta is corrupt from top to bottom.

[barbaraann]

21. One more word/acronym: RICO

n/t

[Poiuyt]

30. I've been wondering...

what does RICO mean?

[jburton]

31. RICO

Racketeering Intimidation Corruption Organization (?)

It's something like that. Basically, RICO is the federal law used to go after the mafia.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

33. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act

mostly designed to prosecute mafia and gangs and make it easier to prove conspiracy.

[are_we_united_yet]

81. I thought it was

Republicans In-control of COngress

[joeunderdog]

79. Unfortunately, Bushco IS (above the) law. And this is not new info.

The only new thing is that someone so close to the process is corageous enough to speak out. It won't change the fact that the fox still guards the hen house, however.

For those who missed it, CBS news reported some time ago that Donald Rumsfeld noted within hours of the fall of the Twin Towers, "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H. (Saddam Hussein) at the same time. Not only UBL (Usama Bin Laden). Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not." The discovery of this kind of shameless opportunism by a high ranking official should have been a headline instead of a blip on the screen.

There is also irrefutable evidence that Bush advisors, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Rumsfeld, have been advocating for the removal of Saddam Hussein for over a decade. Their Project for a New American Century (PNAC) advocates for "American global leadership," otherwise known as ruling the world. In a 1998 letter to President Clinton, they urged for an aggressive approach to foreign policy, suggesting, " That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power." It's still on their web site.

News? What news?

[KissMyAsscroft]

4. This meeting proves that it is all politics...

Bush tries an independant thought, and Rove steps in to kill it.

This proves that Cheney and Rove run the show, which we all knew.

[Gysgt213]

17. Impeach? It's nice you have such a great imagination.

You have a better chance of you wish upon a star coming true or hitting the next big lottery jackpot be there would be a chance of that happing because you will have to find people in congress and the senate who can do the right thing. Not because it means losing or gaining power but because its right. The chance of that happening is probably a zillion to 1. No insult intended.

[Just Me]

5. OH! MY! GOD!!!!!!

Will this actually AIR?!!!!!

I hope the whole country watches this,...I hope, I hope, I hope!!!!

[havocmom]

20. Is there an NFL playoff game opposite 60 Minutes this evening?

If so, I suggest the media is still trying to paly to Rove in some degree.

[VolcanoJen]

28. The last game (GB @ PHI) should be in the 3rd quarter...

... just as 60 Minutes comes on. Kickoff is at 4:30 (ET); 60 Minutes starts at 7:00 (ET). College Basketball might delay the start of 60 Minutes, though.

[Wonk]

77. mp3 and quicktime here for those who missed it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=109&topic_id=4200

[Noxmtbnk]

6. Link?

Both links are the same, do you have a link to the actual transcript of the interview?

[KissMyAsscroft]

14. Those links are a transcript of the interview...

Have you clicked on them yet?

[KissMyAsscroft]

15. Those links are a transcript of the interview...

Have you clicked on them yet?

[greyl]

7. Those links are the same

and neither one looks like a transcript from 60 minutes. ? :)

[KissMyAsscroft]

16. The top one is a transcript of the interview...

Click on it.

[Zhade]

36. It's sizable, but it's not a transcript. Wrong format, not word-for-word.

Transcripts read like scripts. This reads like an article. Worthy information, to be sure, but not an actual transcript.

</devil's advocate>

[young_at_heart]

8. Too bad 60 Minutes is on at the same time as the play-offs

This is too important!

[LiberalFighter]

12. I was wondering about the time factor.

Do you all think that might be a reason that so many while males don't understand what is happening? Their minds are geared almost completely towards sports and anything else they consider trivia.

It reminds me of the show "Married With Children." Al's daughter Kelly wins a spot on a sports quiz show. Al and Bud give Kelly a crash course on sports history. Then Bud explains to his father that there is a limit on how much Kelly can hold in her brain. When her limit is reached then then anything more that is added will force out the first thing that was stored in her head. First In First Out. (FIFO)

[Barkley]

9. Former Tres. Sec. Paul O'Neill Meet

Former Ambassador Joe Wilson ...

“Well... I can't imagine that I'm going to be attacked for telling the truth,” says O’Neill. “Why would I be attacked for telling the truth?”

He (and his wife) should take cover immediately!

This is one of the lastest former Administration operative to come clean on Iraq. They're covering their butts in case the Democrats win back the Houses of Congress in '04 and start a serious investigation (complete with fines and jail terms for offenders) into how we got into Iraq.


He's also hedging his bets on the economy:

"But without the tax cut, we would have had 6 percent real growth (instead of 8.2%), and the prospect of dealing with transformation of Social Security and fundamentally fixing the tax system. And to me, those were compelling competitors for, against more tax cuts.”

[LiberalFighter]

18. If Greg Palast's book provides insight

O'Neil does need to stay away from planes.

The book: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

[Buns_of_Fire]

26. "Why would I be attacked for telling the truth?"

Ah, Paul, Paul, Paul.....

[Danieljay]

11. wow...did you see the video clips?

the third video clip down is pretty good, it talks about 3 revelations concerning taxes, domestic policy, and Iraq. Also, Leslie Stall says there are over 19000 transcrips to back up his claims. This is wonderful!

[Barrett808]

13. Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts

He obtained one Pentagon document, dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts," which includes a map of potential areas for exploration.

Sounds like the documents liberated by Judicial Watch. The same being considered by Cheney's NEPDG ("Energy Task Force").

[leftchick]

19. Confirms LIHOP....

If nothing else this should seal up the LIHOP theory for many. Think about it, they were prepared that something big was gonna happen. They knew it, and knew it would be the pretext for invading Iraq no matter what. So they intentionally ignored all of the warnings because they NEEDED an attack to do Iraq. So as the attacks are going down I imagine what Card whispers to dumbass* is "We have our Pear Harbor".

[Lefty48197]

22. Great link!

This story has the rw terrified! They are absolutely SILENT! They don't know what to say! Their usual sources of talking points are SILENT! They're all hoping for a thrilling football game to distract from this story. Don't let the story die!

[Timefortruth]

24. They are silent because they know that is the best and fastest way

to make the story go away.

What is the most frustrating about the O'Neil revelations is that they won't change a thing, except for historians.

[Tuttle]

40. Just came from a meeting with my congressman

Shays (R) who said, "Wasn't O'Neill fired?" so expect this type of response -- I guess he needed the money? NOT! He had over $60 million from Alcoa and, besides, he's not accepting any money from the book sales.

Tut-tut

[cliss]

23. Wow. Triple Wow.

This is really dynamite. I think this is going to be hard for them to refute. O'Neill is no spring chicken. He's an experienced former executive in private industry before he became secretary of the treasury. So his word definitely carries a lot of weight.

I think the only thing Scott McClellan can say (which he already has) is that O'Neill is a disgruntled former employee. He was fired in a very insensitive manner (why does that not surprise me?) and now he's looking for revenge.

I believe the O'Neill's incriminating information will be MUCH harder to fight off than, say Wilson's accusations. Or maybe it's the combination of them both that's hitting the WH broadside.

Here's hoping....

[ignatius]

25. Bush is pathetic, a man who has had everything handed to him,

and has been bailed out of any and all problems. Becuse of his lack of interest and stupidity, we are now runing a $500 BILLION defict(actually that does not include the $87B Congress passed last winter to Iraq) and how does he presume to handle the money now? More tax cuts and Billions for moon and Mars exploration.

Do you think he has actually touched a $20 bill in the last ten years to realize that it isn't funnymoney, but real. Does he know how hard and how many hours most of us have to spend of our precous time on earth to earn the money he is pissing away and giving to his corporate backers?

Not only is he a liar who has caused thousands to die bu his lies for the oilfields, he is a pathetic asshole as well. Go drink yourself into a stupor you miserable little loser of a man, at least then you would have a reason for being so pathetic.

[kayell]

35. Not only does he have trouble percieving money as "real"

but I suspect he has a complete inability to think of most other people as real.

[Jax]

42. Bingo!

I suspect you are right. Well said.

Jax

[Zhade]

39. You do realize the actual debt is 7 TRILLION dollars, right?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

[ignatius]

41. I am talking about the CBO's estimate of the budget deficit for

the curent fiscal year. It will actually be higher than 500 billion because the 87 billion more gor the war may be "off budget."

[DoYouEverWonder]

64. O'Neil predicted that it would be $44 trillion

in 50 years and that was why Bu$hler fired him. Bu$hler just hates it when anyone tries to tell him the truth.

[Just Me]

27. "Validation" for the protestors,...

I believe this could prove to be THE turning point for the members of this administration and American politics in general.

[proud patriot]

29. Yowzaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !

I have called written and told everyone I know to watch this
program ...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

32. Good job, Proud!

I hit the major media sites and demanded they give this story coverage. Tommorrow it'll be my Reps.

And I intend on calling every day for as long as it takes.

Here was my letter to CNN:

Here was my letter:

Now that the Paul O'Neill/invasion was planned story is breaking, I expect CNN to cover FULLY one of the most important stories of the Bush Administration.

I am just one gal with a computer and access to Google and I knew even before the war what the story was -- the evidence was out there, all you had to do was look for it. Jeez, within 48 hours of Powell's speech to the UN, the "evidence" had been shown to be lies.

Excuse me but where the hell were you? You ARE the journalists, right?

I have been disappointed beyond words with CNN's coverage of Bush and in particular, the invasion of Iraq. I can remember the days when I tuned in because I trusted the news I was getting. I have pretty much stopped now.

You could gain back much of your credibility if you were to blow the lid off this story.

Good God, people, if a President of the United States using boldfaced lies to invade a country as a first step of a "Pax Americana" isn't enough to get you fired up then you'd better just fucking hang it up or go on the White House payroll and be done with it.

[Just Me]

49. Great letter!!!

Inspires me to follow suit!!! :D

[hussar]

34. Ok so now tell me about 9/11

If the * administration had already decided to attack Iraq before 9/11 then does that mean that 9/11 was set up?

[leftchick]

38. LIHOP

Not necessarily. I believe it confirms LIHOP though. See my post above.

[Emillereid]

48. It certainly seems to have been a welcome event!

[peterh]

52. “Welcomed event”…that’s an understatement….

[goforit]

70. Yes, my dear friend..........it was mihop all the way!!!

How much more "in your face" type of evidence does someone need to have to prove that this was planned and pre-meditated murder?

[pinto]

37. FAUX just pulled out Don Evans to repudiate claim B*sh "disengaged",

(Evans is boyhood friend of Liar in Chief, fellow Methodist, oilman, Board of Regents (UT)via B*sh, Sec of Commerce.....)

He usually is out of sight. They're taking this personally...

O'Neil pushed somebody's buttons! That's telling...

[peterh]

43. It’ll be interesting to see how various people chime in on this….

A few are starting to already….

Commerce Secretary Don Evans:

"I know how he leads, I know how he manages.... He drives the meetings, tough questions, he likes dissent, he likes to see debate,"

I think Evans is referring to the various grade school photo-opts…


Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida:

"a Shakespearean approach to advance his career and his book sales. Not since Julius Caesar have I seen such a blatant stab in the back. Et tu, Mr. O'Neill?"

hmmm….no denial, just a lack of loyalty remark…


Democratic presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt:

said he had a similar impression of Bush…."He is a nice man. And he's a smart man. But he doesn't have experience. He doesn't have knowledge. And he has no curiosity."

Smart, yet has no knowledge….political correctness from someone with no balls…



Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman:

"What Paul O'Neill says ... is what a lot of other people are beginning to conclude -- that there was an overstatement by the Bush administration of the weapons of mass destruction part of the argument for going to war against Saddam Hussein,"

beginning to conclude???? No comment….I don’t want another demerit….



http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4107156

[pacifictiger]

44. they're doing the smoke and mirror thing

all over the place. Don Evans (Sec of Commerce) being interviewed by CNN's Lou Dobbs Friday regarding overseas outsourcing of jobs by corps and govt said, sort of intertwined with the mere 1000 new jobs in December, "this is a nation that creates 100,000 jobs a week so the world envies us." I was surprised that Dobbs didn't jump on it but it was skillfully and misleadingly interjected. Then yesterday Bob Novak (the outer of CIA agent Plame) dropped as his "outrage of the week" O'Neils comment of the blind man in a roomful of deaf men. He then went on to say, well that's what you get for trusting a democratic outsider as part of your team, and anyway, he was a miserable failure so why should anyone listen to him.
The last time I checked, O'Neil was a longtime, though perhaps not close, friend of poppy Bush, was attached to the Ford white house, and was a successful exec with international paper and Alcoa. He resigned from Alcoa when asked to be one of Bushes top cabinet members. So that makes him an inept democrat according to Novak? Unbelievable.

[pinto]

45. kick, saw the 100,000/week comment, Evans forgot to mention "new" jobs...

[peterh]

47. Newsmax chiming in on O’Neill’s tenure at Treasury….

It’s a hack job…..

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/1/11/143924.shtml

O'Neill Had Controversial Tour at Treasury

Early on in his watch, ONeill garnered a reputation for worrying about issues beyond his job description.

A memo O'Neill sent to President Bush recommended how to look good on Earth Day:

[Tuttle]

57. also part of the Nixon team

so he knows a little about White House secrecy!

Nofacts is a traitor who should be treated the same as Arnett (not that I agree with the way Arnett was treated - equal justice should prevail).

Tut-tut

[DoYouEverWonder]

66. But, but I thought Bu$hler's economic policies

were a huge success and that this is why the economy is recovering and everything is turning around? Isn't that why Bu$hler wants another tax cut, because the first (when O'Neil was in charge) was so successful that another will be just the thing?

[rocketdem]

78. How could Bush be disengaged?

That would imply that he was at some point engaged. I don't believe that for a moment.

[Emillereid]

46. The links appear the same to me and don't lead

to a transcript. Can someone tell me how to get to the actual transcript?

[rhino91063]

50. We need to make this a major issue

We need to focus the nation on this issue. We need to flood the editorials. Call in all the shows and we need. We need to keep the issue alive in the various online debate forums. This is the biggest thing to happen in a long time. The code of silence on the bush crime family has been broken.

[pacifictiger]

51. here's the CNN transcript

of what Bob Novak said in his "outrage pick" - notice he didn't actually say democrat, merely by innuendo.
----------
NOVAK: George W. Bush named as his first treasury secretary Paul O'Neill, a non-Republican, non-conservative industrialist, former bureaucrat. He was a disaster. He was not fired for two years. The pain persists.

A new book by a passionately anti-Bush journalist features nasty O'Neill quotes to be featured by CBS on "60 Minutes," with the former treasury secretary calling the president "a blind man in a room full of deaf people." The lesson for presidents, don't appoint people you don't know, who never supported you and who don't share your agenda.
-----------

CNN ought to be ashamed for continuing to employ "reporters" who distort the truth and promote misinformation on any person's resume or background.

[T Bone]

73. Did O'Neill contribute to the RNC in 2000? I bet he did

that alone should shut up Novak, but it won't.

[pacifictiger]

53. correction

I found the Don Evans interview CNN transcript - and he didn't say creates 100,000 new jobs a week - he said 1,000,000 new jobs a week! (last paragraph) HUH? - On what Planet?
---------

EVANS: Well, Lou, look, I think the global economy is becoming more integrated, more interlinked, more networked than anybody thought imaginable even five or 10 years ago.

But I really think it is all about free trade and open trade and fair trade. And I think that's healthy in the long run for the American economy and the American workers. I think the more we work to open up trade all around the world, open up markets for our good products and our good workers around the world, it means that our economy will be stronger.

And so I'm not concerned about the level of job outsourcing that I hear about. You know, we always -- remember, this is a very dynamic economy. It's an economy that creates some one million new jobs every week. And so -- and it will continue to be a very dynamic economy. As I have said on this show before, I think people around the world marvel at our ability to create jobs in America. And I expect that to continue. Free and open and fair trade is a very important part of that.
---------

[truthisfreedom]

54. 60 minutes starting in moments... bump

[doc03]

56. If this don't take Bush* down I will loose all hope for this country!

Just saw O'neal on 60 minutes, will the so called liberal media pick this up and run with it? On C-span this morning they were talking about this and already the Repugs had their talking points people
calling in smearing O'neal. Several repeated the same line about him being against the Bush tax cuts and how the economy has taken off since he left. Then FOX is reporting the discovery of the WMD all of the sudden. These war heads they are showing look like they have been
sitting at the bottom of the ocean since the Titanic went down.

[truthisfreedom]

59. it's all about erosion. O'neils revelations in conjunction with Suskind's

other interviews in his book will provide a platform for much of the Left's accusations about our admin being run by, essentially, a mafia.

[goforit]

72. There is going to have to be alot more skeletons to appear before

we can remove the tyrrants from office.

Time to get to work....one and all!!!

[Just Me]

55. He came off as TOTALLY SINCERE when he said,...

,...he didn't worry about being attacked by the administration,...after all, HE WAS JUST TELLING THE TRUTH!!!!

Oh, good Lord *LOL*,...if the administration tries to attack this guy who comes off as a complete "Saint",...

Well, I thought the interview was the best kind of gentle opening towards "truth" to which the somewhat naive and uninformed American people could ever be subject.

[demgrrrll]

58. I agree. Anyone who picked up on the nickname=bully aspect of

Bush's personality isn't naive or unaware. He protected himself by not taking the interviewers bait about ''sour grapes" etc.
If they attack him now they are the bad guys. He has positioned
himself very well.

[truthisfreedom]

61. yes. O'neil certainly positioned himself in an interesting way... somehow

above the self-righteous tone of the administration.

[Snappy]

60. No Surprise to me.

Of course, being a news Net junkie, I knew this for over two years. Posting about it has gotten me a lot of flak and name calling.
The PNAC has been on the Net or a long time. The plans for USA Imperialism are no secret.

The general public are kept ignorant and many like it that way. They are also brainwashed with lies.

The Dems in for the most part are gutless. Lieberman should just join the Repub party along with Zel.

The only Dem candidate with courage is Kucinich. He is also the only one demanding for the troops to be pulled out of Iraq, voted against this madness in the 1st place, also against the Patriot Act. He is in my view a "real" Democrat. The others are phonies.

[doc03]

65. Great line from Kucinich

Kucinich line in debate on MSNBC about Bush going to Mars to look for those WMD's.

[DoYouEverWonder]

67. You've been hanging out with the wrong crowd

Welcome to DU, hopefully your opinions will be better received here.

[DemonFighterLives]

62. I only caught the last minute or two

Were there any high points? He looked pretty mellow at the end and couldn't possibly see how he could be attacked for the truth. I'm sure he will still be attacked. Most conservatives have played deaf, dumb and blind like their great leader.

[doc03]

63. 19000 documents

He had maps showing how Iraq's oil reserves would be dived up. Dated memos from first days of the administration wanting to find an excuse to invade Iraq and plans for rebuilding Iraq after the invasion.

[DemonFighterLives]

68. Thanks Doc

So it was pretty good after all.

[ignatius]

84. With all the planning for the invasion,documented at least from

1-01,it seems as if things would have gone much smoother.

Tjis isn't planning, it's an oilman's wet dream.

[goforit]

71. And to think......O'Niel took NO $$$$ for this book and investigation.

Yes he has been vindicated in my mind and
he has truely repented and therefore has released his own demons!!!

A toast to
O'Niel!!!!!!:toast: Cheers!!!!

"You are free"

[bvar22]

74. This puts the LIE to another bush*/republican claim....

We don't want this war. We will go to war ONLY as a last resort. ....Republican MANTRA prior to the Iraqi Invasion.


Anybody watching these creeps could see that they (bush*/republicans) LUSTED after the death and destruction of inferiors. Rummy was absolutely GLEEFUL after the murder started.

[0007]

75. Wonder what the freeper are saying about O'Neill now!

[banana republican]

76. it's what is in the 19,000 documents that is important, anyone have copies

[Sparky McGruff]

80. How about a special edition of the book with a CD-ROM?

Put the documents on a CD-ROM with a nice index. Might sell a few copies...?

[Occulus]

82. Talk to Bev Harris and the BBV 'team'

A group quite familiar with poring over documents.