May 12 at 11:50PM
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: You Probably Don't Understand the Iraq War
Former Bush Administration Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight to set the record straight on the Iraq war. Apparently we were not mislead misled into war. I believe him. Unless he's misleading me now…
Anyway, Jon started summer early by firing up the grill and sticking Feith on it. Listen to the defense of a man who was in the room when all the planning went down and decide if it flips your script.
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I saw the movie United 93. Some things can be done to verify the facts of this movie, tracing calls that were made, etc. I did not see George Bush on that plane, just a whole lot of terrified people. If there is any truth to this movie those people on that plane are true American heroes. They helped leave some evidence that can prove that this was done by Terrorists. Their memory should be honored.
Going into Iraq was done in the name of Democracy. Democracy can not be forced but must be embraced. If they do not want to embrace it they are opting for a forced alternative, and also the only one that they know. We can attempt to teach them an alternative to what they are use to but in the name of Democracy we can not force it upon them.
Yes, they have a natural resource that is very valuable, oil. I am sure that a very smart Economist might be able to come to some sort of solution to equalize the price of oil. If you don't like the place were you shop and it is too rich for you, start looking elsewhere. Was there no advantage for us when we liberated Kuwait? Get back to me on that one. I truely am ignorant as to how this part of the war is effecting Kuwait which has a large natural resource of oil. I thought Desert Storm ended?
Jon Stewart for Secretary of State.
He knew his FACTS, presented them, and asked the hard questions, unlike ANY MSM pussy journalist to date.
And sounded and looked good while doing it.
No other nitwit pundit has even come close. WTG, Daily Show writers! Jon Stewart FTW.
there will be a special place in hell for this ahole feith. isnt it a shame that hard hitting interviews like this can only happen on a comedy channel? god the media sux in this country
This entire interview is complete non-sense. Both participants miss the most important point entirely. That being: The bush administration and the executioners of their plans are guilty of MASS MURDER. That's where any honest discussion of this war and all wars should begin. War = mass death and destruction. There are always a small group of people who are well positioned to profit from these debacles and they are the ones who engineer these bogus scenarios. And it will continue to happen until people (by the millions) wise up to this very basic fact of life (and death).
Although I am a big fan of Jon Stewart, I think that if he was completely honest, he would feel compelled to make fun of us, the American people, not the guys that "deceived" us. And if he is really worth his salt, he'd do it so that his ratings wouldn't drop. My recollection is that the war had 70% support. A democracy where citizens do not consider it their responsibility to be informed from sources other than their government has de facto stopped being a democracy. What really happened in this country is that so called citizens become spoonfed consumers of entertainment disguised as news.
Did Russians with eyes and ears and hearts and brains under communism buy the official version, which is all they had access to? I think not. Here, a few well-placed remarks in the mass media had a majority of Americans think that France was our greatest enemy. How gullible can you get? If Bush had decided to march into Paris rather than Bagdad, he would have done it with 90% support among the American people, not 70%.
I think the best joke the French could play on the Americans would be to follow suit and rename their "belgian fries" freedom fries – except they have a sense of history and still respect the sacrifices made by American soldiers on French soil more than 60 years ago.
First, I would vote Jon Stewart for president any day! I love the way you go after the facts and challenge your guests on the show.
I find it interesting that Feith indicated Bush backed up when first planning to go into Iraq to do so democratically. Of course, he had to "gracefully" – although, that's not possible – back up from his aggressive comment of how "they were going to kill my daddy". Of course, it couldn't be a personal attack.
Second, a previous comment indicated here that 70% were for war. What group was asked this? How much ACCURATE information did these people have? It's convenient when the whole country is emotionally charged up to use this to strengthen a momentum for war. I don't think most of that 70% asked where completely objective to the situation. We definately wanted answers – but that's our problem today – we don't look ahead to the consequences of our actions. This war has certainly made some good things happen, but it was not democratic.
I find it interesting that most of our friends who have served in the military or formerly served – are completely against this war. Over and over again, we would get into discussions about the results and choices this administration has made. Unfortunately, there are too many individuals taking advantage of the "average" American. It's not just government, but all those that will benefit. The war – is just a distraction – a means to an end.
I heart Jon Stewart! He can be the boss of me anyday.
Jon for President!
Dough Feith should no better to get on national television and try to paint a rosy picture of what happened between close doors. Either he is indicting the experts around the table as being phonies or they were deliberate about their actions. The bottom line is they came up with needed next step under the intoxication of post-911 trauma. Saddam Hussein was the most vulnerable. Then they found the threads of information to support it. As we can see today, these threads could not hold up to the gravity of the situation. As an intelligence analyst for 15 years, with recent exposure to the reality of Iraq today, it is evident that the government is very good at spinning information to mean whatever they want it to.
Isn't Feith the guy Gen. Tommy Franks, the CENTCOM commander during the war, called "the dumbest m___f___
on the planet"? And he said that even before the war began! (source: "Fiasco" by Thomas Ricks)