Friday, September 26, 2008

Palin on Iran



Below is an excerpt of the transcript from Katie Couric's day two interview with Sarah Palin, which includes more comments from Palin on Iran.

Couric: You met yesterday with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who is for direct diplomacy with both Iran and Syria. Do you believe the U.S. should negotiate with leaders like President Assad and Ahmadinejad?

Palin: I think, with Ahmadinejad, personally, he is not one to negotiate with. You can't just sit down with him with no preconditions being met. Barack Obama is so off-base in his proclamation that he would meet with some of these leaders around our world who would seek to destroy America and that, and without preconditions being met. That's beyond naïve. And it's beyond bad judgment.

Couric: Are you saying Henry Kissinger..

Palin: It's dangerous.

Couric: is naïve for supporting that?

Palin: I've never heard Henry Kissinger say, "Yeah, I'll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met." Diplomacy is about doing a lot of background work first and shoring up allies and positions and figuring out what sanctions perhaps could be implemented if things weren't gonna go right. That's part of diplomacy.

Couric: You recently said three times that you would never, quote, "second guess" Israel if that country decided to attack Iran. Why not?

Palin: We shouldn't second guess Israel's security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust, for one. Israel has got to have the opportunity and the ability to protect itself. They are our closest ally in the Mideast. We need them. They need us. And we shouldn't second guess their efforts.

Couric: You don't think the United States is within its rights to express its position to Israel? And if that means second-guessing or discussing an option?

Palin: No, we need to express our rights and our concerns and…

Couric: But you said never second guess them.

Palin: We don't have to second-guess what their efforts would be if they believe that it is in their country and their allies, including us, all of our best interests to fight against a regime, especially Iran, who would seek to wipe them off the face of the earth. It is obvious to me who the good guys are in this one and who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the ones who say Israel is a stinking corpse and should be wiped off the face of the earth. That's not a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States, in my world, those are the good guys.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I don't have the words for her interview performances... but Kathleen Parker of the National Review Online does:

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there.

...

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself."


Not that we should underestimate Palin as a tool to GOTV, but geez... Parker kind of sums it up, doesn't she? And she's a conservative columnist (consider the source, in other words).

Of course, what's frightening is the possibility of McCain winning, something happening to him (he's pretty old, after all), and Mrs. Palin being president.

Given her tendency toward fanatically hawkish foreign policy ("Henry Kissinger is full of it, let's just bomb Iran!"), that's a scary prospect indeed.