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NYT's Judith "WMD" Miller slips and reveals bogus Iraq election (Hardball transcript)

Thread ID: 16545 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2005-02-02

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Jack Cassidy [OP]

2005-02-02 17:16 | User Profile

[size=3][font=Courier New][color=blue][url="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6890753/"]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6890753/[/url][/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Courier New][color=blue][/color][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Courier New][/font][/size] [size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />[/font][/size] [size=3][font=Courier New]Stephen Hayes is a staff writer with “The Weekly Standard” magazine. “Newsweek‘s” Howard Fineman is an MSNBC news analyst, and Judith Miller is an investigative reporter for “The New York Times.” [/font][/size]

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[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Let‘s do the math because it‘s a political program. Judy, we had 25 million people estimated—we don‘t grade censuses over in that part of the world -- 25 million Iraqis, 14 million people eligible, 18 years old, citizens of Iraq and registered to vote. So we had 14 million potential voters today. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]What is the estimate we‘re talking about? Some people were saying up to 70 percent, then it was 60 percent. But any way you look at it, almost 10 million voters today. That is a success, right? [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: Now, Chris, that is a success. And there‘s something else. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]What is really interesting is I was recently given just a few hours ago some numbers from the State Department‘s own intelligence and research bureau that showed, in fact, that as of 10 or 15 days ago, the administration had done its own polling and expected very high turnout throughout the country. Which may have been one reason why there were these belated and sudden outreaches to people whom the administration had heretofore spurned. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: What does that mean? [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: Well, there were, for example, some very tense relations between Ahmed Chalabi and the administration after they had raided his home, after they had accused him of being an Iranian agent, of giving information to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Iran. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Right.[/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: We now are told, according to my sources, that the administration has been reaching out to Mr. Chalabi to offer him expressions of cooperation and support. And according to one report, he was even offered a chance to be an interior minister in the new government. But I think one effect of this vote is going to be that the Iraqis themselves will decide who will hold... [/font][/size]

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[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Wait a minute. When you say—Judy, when you say administration, do you mean the alliance party leadership or Allawi over there, the current prime minister? Who are you talking about? [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: We are talking about the administration officials who have been reaching out to...[/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: You mean Americans? [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: ... Sistani‘s—yes, American officials who have been reaching out to Sistani‘s party. Because Dr. Chalabi is on that list. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: So where—so we have an election over there. And the same day we‘re holding an election, the same week, we are plotting which ministries to give to Chalabi, the guy who talked us into the war in the first place. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: No, no. There were expressions. There was apparently an effort to determine whether or not he would be interested in assuming a certain portfolio. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Why are we in the business of deciding or even negotiating cabinet ministries in a foreign government? [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: No. Well, you know, Chris, first of all, this is just one report. But I think what is very clear, according to people I talked to today, is that they have been attempting to mend fences with him. Now understanding that as a tent (ph) on that Sistani list, the Shia list, he will be an important person in Iraq. And I think that there will have to be a lot of rethinking on the part of the Americans with whom they want to deal. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: We‘ll have to talk more about this in the coming days. But the idea that the man who won his country back through the vice president‘s office, Ahmed Chalabi, finds his way now through all this electoral process to end up as oil minister or finance minister, as you say, interior minister—and I think he has higher ambitions than that—makes the electoral process come down to the guy who started the war, ends up winning the war, irregardless of how people vote over there. [/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: Well, you know, I think the interesting thing was the up and down, was the kind of rise and fall of Ahmed Chalabi in this administration. On one hand, in the beginning, he was the person supported adamantly by the Defense Department. He was opposed by the State Department and the CIA...[/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Right.[/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: ... who said he had no popular support in the country...[/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MATTHEWS: Right.[/font][/size]

[size=3][font=Courier New]MILLER: ... and he wouldn‘t be able to hold a coalition together. We‘ve now seen that, in fact, he played a pivotal role in putting together, helping to put together the list which we don‘t know yet, but it may very well have done extremely well, if not won the vote. [/font][/size]