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The Palin Interview (Updated)
September 11, 2008 9:10 PM
Charlie Gibson has just finished his first interview with Sarah Palin. It's a global tour -- Iraq and Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Georgia and Russia, and America's place in the world. For all of you who were concerned -- Charlie asked plenty of follow-ups. There were also questions about her general qualifications to be Vice President. Or Commander-In-Chief. Here are a couple of excerpts. Much more on World News this evening.
GIBSON: Governor, let me start by asking you a question that I asked John McCain about you, and it is really the central question. Can you look the country in the eye and say "I have the experience and I have the ability to be not just vice president, but perhaps president of the United States of America?"
PALIN: I do, Charlie, and on January 20, when John McCain and I are sworn in, if we are so privileged to be elected to serve this country, we'll be ready. I'm ready.
GIBSON: And you didn't say to yourself, "Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I -- will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?"
PALIN: I didn't hesitate, no.
GIBSON: Didn't that take some hubris?
PALIN: I -- I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink. So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.
****************************
GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?
PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.
GIBSON: Exact words.
PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words when he said -- first, he suggested never presume to know what God's will is, and I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side. That's what that comment was all about, Charlie.
GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln's words, but you went on and said, "There is a plan and it is God's plan."
PALIN: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that those are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That, in my world view, is a grand -- the grand plan.
GIBSON: But then are you sending your son on a task that is from God?
PALIN: I don't know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer.
****************************
GIBSON: Let me ask you about some specific national security situations.
PALIN: Sure.
GIBSON: Let's start, because we are near Russia, let's start with Russia and Georgia.
The administration has said we've got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?
PALIN: First off, we're going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain's running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep... GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.
PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there.
GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?
PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska. We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We've learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.
We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.
GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?
PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.
GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.
PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.
Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but...
GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?
PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.
But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to -- especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.
We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.
GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.
PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.
And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.
It doesn't have to lead to war and it doesn't have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.
His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that's a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.
*************************
GIBSON: Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be an existential threat to Israel?
PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes.
GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran?
PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them.So we have got to put the pressure on Iran.
GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?
PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don't think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.
GIBSON: So if we wouldn't second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.
PALIN: I don't think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.
GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.
PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.
********************************
GIBSON: We talk on the anniversary of 9/11. Why do you think those hijackers attacked? Why did they want to hurt us?
PALIN: You know, there is a very small percentage of Islamic believers who are extreme and they are violent and they do not believe in American ideals, and they attacked us and now we are at a point here seven years later, on the anniversary, in this post-9/11 world, where we're able to commit to never again. They see that the only option for them is to become a suicide bomber, to get caught up in this evil, in this terror. They need to be provided the hope that all Americans have instilled in us, because we're a democratic, we are a free, and we are a free-thinking society.
GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?
PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?
GIBSON: The Bush -- well, what do you -- what do you interpret it to be?
PALIN: His world view.
GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.
PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.
GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?
GIBSON: Do we have the right to be making cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan, with or without the approval of the Pakistani government?
PALIN: Now, as for our right to invade, we're going to work with these countries, building new relationships, working with existing allies, but forging new, also, in order to, Charlie, get to a point in this world where war is not going to be a first option. In fact, war has got to be, a military strike, a last option.
GIBSON: But, Governor, I'm asking you: We have the right, in your mind, to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government.
PALIN: In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.
GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to go after terrorists who are in the Waziristan area?
PALIN: I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table.
****STAY TUNED****
September 11, 2008 in Vote 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (646)
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Are you kidding meeee????? How DARE ABC NEWS take advantage of an exclusive opportunity to do the ONLY interview of Palin that GOP has granted, and then air only blips and blurbs of it and drag it out in a blatant attempt to increase viewers for ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, and Good Morning America. And, I might add, this tactic also prevents anyone on any other network from commenting on how she did in the interview. SHAME on ABC>
You need to air the ENTIRE interview in one sitting, as in a Sunday talk show, because the McCain campaign is obviously not going to let her be exposed to anything resembling a thorough vetting by competent journalists. I wish Tim Russert were still alive.
Posted by: JJ | Sep 11, 2008 7:08:00 PM
I would like Charlie to explain why the media doesnot ask Obama the same hard questions that he asked Sarah Palin on his newscast tonight. Nobody in the liberal press has treated Obama like you treat Mrs. Palin tonight. I was very proud of the way she answered.
Posted by: dona packer | Sep 11, 2008 7:09:46 PM
Charlie Gibson, I have always been a big fan of yours but this interview was so strong, so one-sided and so closed-minded, I am appalled at your style and you better get Joe Biden on your show soon and be just as pushy, demanding and rude as you were with Sarah Palin. I am very tired of the media trying to make my political decisions for me and the rest of the US. Back off!
Posted by: Ronda | Sep 11, 2008 7:11:24 PM
charlie you forgot to wear your vote for obama pin during the palin interview ,you showed no class and sounded very smug and disrepectful to our next vice president
Posted by: frank campo | Sep 11, 2008 7:16:19 PM
you softball Sarah Palin fans get real Obama has had to answer many, many, many difficult questions in the 19 months he has campaigning. this is for the Vp or maybe president of our country not pta president get real people!
Posted by: joe s | Sep 11, 2008 7:18:28 PM
Reading this, at least, is like reading a freshman term paper, written by a student who hasn't done the coursework but just crammed a little the night before.
Posted by: matt | Sep 11, 2008 7:18:39 PM
When and why did she speak to Saakashvili? I would imagine (and hope) that there are journalist fact checking that statement as I type.
Posted by: alan | Sep 11, 2008 7:18:46 PM
I can already see that this interview has been designed to make Governor Palin look as uniformed and incapable as possible.
He would not dare treat a man like this.
Mr. Gibson is clearly not an impartial interviewer and it's obvious who he is going to vote for.
I will no longer watch him on the news.
Posted by: earle barber | Sep 11, 2008 7:19:26 PM
I was a Democrat, but now I'm going to vote for McCain. The media has changed my mind! You are doing a great job of converting us! Being a Democrat doesnt' automatically mean that we're going to fall all over the media's bias. Hopefully we Americans will see through what you're doing and use our common sense. Right now we need someone who's had a LOT of experience --we're in the middle of a war, and that war will continue in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan,etc. Now is not the time to break in someone new who has too many foggy facts about his citizenship, patriotism, pride in being an American, etc. McCain's mother is 96 and going really strong. His age shouldn't be an issue at this point. And Palin tonight handled herself very well against some riduculously not-pertinent questions. You should be ashamed of yourself. And where is Obama's birth certificate? Just why can't the American public see it?
Posted by: dak | Sep 11, 2008 7:26:49 PM
Palin...tough as nails...you go girl. She's the American version of the Iron Lady.
Posted by: joseatpolodotorg | Sep 11, 2008 7:27:44 PM
She can take the tough questions. I never had a doubt. I would love to see Matt Daemon answer a few like this.
Posted by: L Thompson | Sep 11, 2008 7:33:15 PM
I can't believe how ABC News left out the part of getting along with Russia, not being another cold war, etc. ABC NEws is shameful
Posted by: Karen | Sep 11, 2008 7:36:37 PM
I don’t believe in all these interview crap.
We need a live debate “Obama-McCain”, “Biden-Palin” face to face.
I am sure people will come to know who McCain and Palin are and how unqualified they are.
Posted by: MN | Sep 11, 2008 7:36:45 PM
Charlie, If you had treated Obama the way you treated Sarah, he would have been in tears by the end of the interview.
Bye Charlie, it's time to change channels.
Posted by: DJinFL | Sep 11, 2008 7:36:51 PM
Gov Palin is finally talking. I see why she has been under close wraps. This is frightening for someone who is running for vice president she is very ill informed and totally incapable of the nomination let alone the vice-presidency. I guess she should stick to speaking engagements with Senator McCain. She is embarrashing the whole country.
Posted by: Rhonda Russell | Sep 11, 2008 7:38:42 PM
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,
I once respected you. You asked, you hound Obama with the tough questions. Why did you go light on Palin? Why? Why? Why? Her first interview is with you and you put on the kid gloves, put her over your shoulder and burp the pit bull. No wonder they selected you to be the first...Please regain your objectivity and quit thinking with your...Please! I used to think you were better than that!
Posted by: Terresa | Sep 11, 2008 7:39:44 PM
Charlie, I feel like you are my dad and I have been one of your biggest fans, trusted your words and tone with every major life and world event. After Peter Jennings died, there was only you to rely upon. You need to know that tonight your interview with Sarah Palin missed the mark big time. YOUR politics was seething through (which I have never noticed before) and the condesending style you took with her bordered on disrespectful. This interview tone was beneath you. Try again.
Posted by: Karna Hatzi | Sep 11, 2008 7:39:52 PM
Dak,
This is how you campaign for McCain-Palin.
Sorry, people won’t fall for a story like this.
Posted by: MN | Sep 11, 2008 7:42:00 PM
Charlie, You should be ashamed of yourself. I have watched you for over 20 years and tonight you lost me. How dare you treat Sarah like you did.
Posted by: Joann Snyder | Sep 11, 2008 7:42:31 PM
Here we go again. Here we go again. If you ask a republican a difficult question you're bullying them. If you want to see presidential or vice presidential candidates answering proper questions check out the numerous videos of Obama and Biden doing unscripted interviews WHICH THEY DO ALL TIME. You people are pathetic, what a bunch of whiners!
Posted by: Jack | Sep 11, 2008 7:43:35 PM
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