Abbeycastle,
The interview you speak of actually took place on *December* 11, 2001.
The interview did take place on the O'Reilly factor in the "Unresolved
Problem" segment of his program. The main question Bill is asking is
whether Kerry supports Bush's plan to go and "get" Saddam in Iraq.
What follows is the entire transcript, which I found on
lexisnexis.com. I hope you will forgive the extensive length of this
post, but I wanted to get the info to you quickly.
>>begin transcript<<
O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.
In the "Unresolved Problem" segment tonight, there continues to be
much debate about confronting Saddam Hussein. There's no question that
the Iraqi dictator has encouraged terrorist acts around the world,
including an assassination plot against former president Bush.
One of the possible Democratic presidential candidates next time
around, Senator Joseph Lieberman, told THE FACTOR last week he wants
to go in and get Saddam.
Joining us now is another possible presidential contender, Democratic
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. And do you feel the same way as
Joe Lieberman, senator?
U.S. SENATOR JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Essentially, yes. I'm not
sure exactly what Joe means by that, but I think we ought to put the
heat on Saddam Hussein. I've said that for a number of years, Bill. I
criticized the Clinton administration for backing off of the
inspections when Ambassador Butler was giving us strong evidence that
we needed to continue. I think we need to put the pressure on no
matter what the evidence is about September 11.
But I think we have to do it in a thoughtful and intelligent way.
O'REILLY: Which is what? I mean, look, you know, the guy...
KERRY: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: ... the guy is simply -- he is an out of control guy...
KERRY: Absolutely.
O'REILLY: ... and he's not going to, he's not going to respond to
embargoes, no-fly zones. He's not going to do that. How would you put
enough pressure on him to open up inspections again?
KERRY: Well, I'll reinvigorate that process as step number one, and I
think the administration is now suddenly starting to move in that
direction. I think you have to work our allies sufficiently to pull
that component of the effort back together.
But the second thing I would do, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it, is
back opposition more openly, and do it in a way that begins to put a
counterinsurgency in the country itself...
O'REILLY: So what do you do, drop, drop heavy weapons to the Kurds in
the north and to Muslims who don't...
KERRY: I would say...
O'REILLY: ... like him in the south?
KERRY: Bill, let me tell you, I was all for our following through at
the end of the Gulf War with the Kurd uprising, and I thought it was a
great betrayal, in a sense, that we encouraged them verbally, we gave
them forces, we gave them weapons, we encouraged them and said we were
with them, and then we pulled out at the last minute because the
Kuwaitis and the Saudis and others were unsure of what might follow.
O'REILLY: Yes, that was a classic mistake. But if you arm the Kurds in
the north of Iraq, you're going to alienate one of our most valuable
allies...
KERRY: No, I didn't say, I didn't say add the -- I didn't say
necessarily the Kurds. There are other members of the opposition.
There are people who are outside of the country prepared to go in,
there are others inside the country.
And I believe -- I mean, I was in Safra (ph), I went there when the
signing of the armistice took place at the end of the war. And I
remember seeing that land, which lent itself, in my judgment,
considerably, to the creation of almost an enclave, which I thought we
should have done then, and I think is one way to begin to approach
things now.
But there are other possibilities. The important thing is that Saddam
Hussein and the world knows that we think Saddam Hussein is
essentially out of synch with the times. He is and has acted like a
terrorist, and he has engaged in activities...
O'REILLY: All right.
KERRY: ... that are unacceptable.
O'REILLY: But I -- you know, I still don't see the hammer that's going
to convince him to open anything up.
KERRY: The hammer, ultimately, will be the evidence that we uncover as
we go further down the trail that shows his support for terrorism and
begins to build the coalition even more strongly...
O'REILLY: Have you seen any...
KERRY: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: ... evidence that's really compelling that has not come out yet?
KERRY: I have not seen any evidence yet with respect to the 11th. But
there are avenues of -- to pursue there. The important thing is that
Saddam Hussein has used weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein
fired weapons on Israel. They took some -- I think it was 29 or more
Scuds without even responding during the war.
In addition to that, he has refused to live by the terms of the treaty
that he signed at the end of the war in which he agreed to do certain
things.
O'REILLY: Sure, absolutely.
KERRY: He hasn't...
O'REILLY: I mean, we certainly...
KERRY: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the international community ought to
hold him accountable for that.
O'REILLY: But the international community won't. If we're going to get
-- if he's going to get...
KERRY: Well, ultimately...
O'REILLY: ... out of there, it's going to have to be us.
KERRY: ... ultimately...
O'REILLY: Going to have to be us.
KERRY: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: Nobody else going to do anything because they're all
frightened little ninnies.
Now...
KERRY: In the end...
O'REILLY: ... let's shift.
KERRY: ... in the end, we protect our own national security interests.
In the end, I'm prepared for the United States to do what it has to do
in order to do that.
O'REILLY: All right. Well, he's got to go, that's for sure.
Now, let's go to ANWR. You have been the strongest proponent of not
drilling for oil up in the Arctic. Now, I don't want to get into an
ANWR debate because it's unending. You say it's not worth the drill,
there's not a lot of stuff there. The Department of Interior says it
could be a huge find. We don't know.
But there's one point that's irrefutable, senator. The American
government has got to wean itself off OPEC oil.
KERRY: Absolutely.
O'REILLY: How would specifically...
KERRY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: ... specifically, how are you going to do that if you're
elected president?
KERRY: Well, well, here, look, let's leave the latter connection out
of it. Let me just tell you as a senator what I think is critical for
our country. We have to wean ourselves from oil, not just OPEC oil.
And the fact is, Bill, there isn't enough oil in ANWR, there isn't
enough oil anywhere in the reserves that we hold to wean ourselves
completely from OPEC oil.
No matter what happens, as long as we're dependent on oil, we are
going to be dependent on foreign oil. And as long as we're dependent
on foreign oil, the United States does not hold its own destiny, and
we are not in command of our own national security.
I am in favor -- look, there are 7,000 leases, over 25 million acres
currently available to drill in in the Gulf of Mexico. We're not
drilling in them simply because of the price of oil. Now, if oil is so
desperately needed to wean ourselves, why aren't we drilling there?
You don't need to go to ANWR. You could use the permissible 75 percent
of the North Slope of Alaska and the 7,000 leases that we currently
have...
O'REILLY: All right, but the oil companies...
KERRY: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: ... aren't going to do that, because it's cheaper to get it...
KERRY: Well, then, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'REILLY: ... from the Gulf. It's cheaper to get from the Gulf.
KERRY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- exactly. Well, it is, and you're absolutely
correct, which is why the United States of America needs to do what
Jack Kennedy asked us to do in the 1960s. He said we're going to go to
space before the Russians. I think what we ought to do is be
independent of oil as rapidly as possible.
That'll take us 20, 30, 40 years. But if we don't begin now to excite
the entrepreneurship of our country to move faster to hydrogen fuel
cells, to move faster to alternatives and renewables -- there are
literally millions of jobs waiting to be created for this country if
we create that drive for independence. That should be...
O'REILLY: All right, so you say, you say that...
KERRY: ... the energy policy (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: ... the federal government should fund research into
hydrogen fuel cells, that's just one (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
KERRY: I'm saying they should excite the private sector's ability and
willingness to move there with tax credits, R&D, permanent tax credit
in that facility, major incentives for people to move there. We could
do that in addition to funding some of the more risky early elements
in ways that we have in the past...
O'REILLY: All right. How about, how about...
KERRY: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'REILLY: ... mandating that Detroit have a threshold like 40 miles
per gallon, would you be for that?
KERRY: I haven't decided what the level is yet that we should set for...
O'REILLY: Because they can do that tomorrow.
KERRY: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Well, we're having hearings right now
to determine what they can do tomorrow. We just had one hearing last
week. I'm conducting those hearings. We're going to have more. And I'm
going to reserve what I think is the appropriate figure until we
finish that process.
O'REILLY: All right, 40, keep 40 in your mind there, senator. Hey,
happy birthday to you, you're 40 years old today, right?
KERRY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I love you, thank you very much.
O'REILLY: Oh, yeah, you're the only on earth who does, senator.
KERRY: Well, I love you for that...
O'REILLY: Thanks very much for your...
KERRY: ... comment, anyway.
O'REILLY: We appreciate your time.
>> end transcript <<
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