Shock and Awe Page #9

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I'm gonna hold you to that.

REPORTER:
Worldwide resistance

is mounting...

against America's military

intervention into Iraq.

From US cities to Europe and

the Middle East...

demonstrators have taken to the

streets in opposition...

to the United States'

threat to invade Iraq.

Mr. Strobel, Mr. Landay,

how do you do?

- Hello.

- I'm Entifadh Qanbar.

- Hi.

- Now, please, follow me.

Who's this dude?

Guy who used to deliver pizzas.

I'm not kidding.

Minister Chalabi,

Mr. Jonathan Landay...

and Warren Strobel from Knight

Ridder News.

Gentlemen, welcome.

Hey. Thank you for finally

agreeing to meet with us.

I've been very busy.

Talking to our competitors.

I speak with whomever wishes

to speak with me.

After all, I have nothing

to hide...

which is more than I can say

for Saddam.

Okay, well, since you brought

him up...

I thought we might talk

about what...

you know about his weapons

and how he might be hiding them.

He has WMD and he's hiding them,

that I know.

Right, and you know that how?

I know everything that's

happening in my country.

Even though Iraq hasn't been

your country for over a decade?

I may be an exile, but I'm still

an Iraqi.

Well, I think the point my

colleague is trying to make...

is how would you, an enemy

of Saddam, in exile...

have access to such valuable

information?

I maintain close

relationships...

with dissident intelligence

sources.

Is there a way we can

verify that?

No.

See, that's kind of a problem

for us...

because we can't write a story...

I want what America wants,

a free and democratic Iraq.

With you as its leader?

If the people of Iraq wish

for me to return, yes.

I want the opportunity to help

rebuild my country...

the way Mandela did

in South Africa.

But Mandela didn't ask the U.S.

to invade his country.

He wasn't fighting terrorists.

With all due respect, that's

where the red flags...

start to go up for us.

Are you implying that I've

created a false narrative...

for my own pursuits?

Is there another reason why

you'd create a false narrative?

I don't lie!

Saddam Hussein has mobile

chemical...

and biological weapons labs.

He has a nuclear program.

He has ties to terrorists.

And if you don't believe me,

just ask the many other...

defectors and hear

what they say.

They will all tell

you the same thing.

Don't they all get their

information from you?

If you were wondering why

it took so long for me...

to meet with you, it's this

smug attitude.

You have no intention of

reporting anything I've said.

Do you want us to just be your

cheerleaders?

All right, I think we

should go.

Thank you for your time.

Now I see why no one reads

anything you write.

I am an advocate for the removal

of a vicious dictator...

for a free Iraq, an Iraq that

will one day be a close ally...

to your country, to Israel, and

to all of the Western world.

And exactly how will this happen

after Saddam Hussein is gone?

All right, come on, Landay.

No, no, no, he says the world

will be better off...

but he doesn't say how.

How would the removal

of Saddam Hussein...

not plunge Iraq into a bloody

civil war?

Tell us something that makes

sense...

anything that makes sense, and

we'll write that story today.

You can't!

Because you have no

idea what happens next.

- And neither does anyone else.

- John. John!

I would rather go back and write

for my high school paper...

than to be used by you...

to sell the American public

your bullshit.

All right.

By the way, it's Knight Ridder.

Secretary of State Colin Powell

will make the case...

against Iraq in a nationally

televised address...

to the UN Security Council.

Looks like they're bringing

in the closer.

REPORTER:
Mr. Secretary,

are you confident...

you will make your case, sir?

You'll see.

What the hell game have we've

been playing?

All we did is piss into the

wind.

We did our jobs.

I should never have become

a reporter.

Damn that Woodward and

Bernstein.

They took down a president

whose biggest crime...

was trying to cover up some

dirty political tricks.

This president's about to do the

worst thing any president...

could do and he'll probably

get re-elected.

To the democratic experiment.

POWELL:

Thank you, Mr. President.

My colleagues, every statement

I make today...

is backed up by sources,

solid sources.

The gravity of this moment is

matched by the gravity...

of the threat that Iraq's

weapons of mass destruction...

pose to the world.

It was a set up, the whole damn

thing was a set up.

Tenet sent Powell a stack

of files this high...

that supported the invasion.

Saddam Hussein is determined...

to get his hands

on a nuclear bomb.

Cheney sent Scooter Libby...

to push three main arguments

in those files.

One:
Saddam's human rights

abuses...

which everybody knew about.

Two:
his links to al Qaeda,

which Powell...

of course, threw right

in the trash.

And the third focused

on Iraq's WMD.

Leaving Saddam Hussein in

possession of weapons...

of mass destruction for a few

more months or years...

is not an option, not in a

post-September 11th world.

Over a four-day period, Powell

made every single CIA officer...

defend every so-called piece

of evidence in those files.

He threw out 80% of them.

At the end of the four days...

Powell looked Tenet right

in the eye and said...

"George, can we stand

by every word of this?"

And Tenet said, "Everything in

there is gold, I promise you."

To which Powell replied, "Well,

that's good, George.

"I'm glad you feel that way,

'cause you're going to be...

"sitting right behind me when

I present this to the world."

We must not fail in our duty

and our responsibility...

to the citizens of the

countries...

that are represented

by this body.

Colin took one for the team.

Always the good soldier.

BUSH:

Has the Iraqi regime fully...

and unconditionally disarmed?

The only acceptable outcome is

the one already defined...

by a unanimous vote of the

Security Council.

Total disarmament.

Great Britain, Spain and the

United States have introduced..

a new resolution stating that

Iraq has failed to meet...

the requirements

of Resolution 1441.

This is a fact, it cannot

be denied.

REPORTER:
And what harm

would it do to give...

Saddam a final ultimatum?

A two or three day deadline

to disarm or face force?

September the 11th changed

the strategic thinking...

at least as far as I was

concerned...

for how to protect our country.

My job is to protect the

American people.

Used to be that we could think

that you could contain...

a person like Saddam Hussein...

that oceans would protect us

from his type of terror.

(PHONE RINGS)

September the 11th should say

to the American people...

Hello?

You need to pack your bags.

Right.

In the hands of a terrorist

organization...

could be deployed here at home.

King, John King. This is a

scripted...

Thank you, Mr. President.

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