Russ Feingold - C-Span1 - a "real-time" transcript

[welshTerrier2]

the following is being captured real-time as quickly as i can type it. it's as accurate as i am able to be but no guarantees it's perfect. Feingold was on C-Span1 this morning at 8:00 am. The show might well be repeated later in the day. check www.c-span.org for their schedule.

Feingold:

House vote is a first step.
we need timelines or a cutoff of funding.
i say troops out in 6 months after my timeline bill passes. cutoff of funding needs to be in the bill to force bush's hand.
this is not just about "the surge".
the current mission would end by a date certain and there would be plenty of time to get the troops out of there safely.
this is how we got the troops out of Somalia.
many Senators know we have to get to that but aren't saying so publically.
too many people voted for this war and it is our responsibility to end it and that means using the power of the purse to end it.
nobody thought there could be a military solution to this war.
we shouldn't disengage from Iraq or the region completely but we shouldn't have 140,000 troops there and this escalation makes no sense at all.
not sure if we can get to 60 votes to join the House and pass a non-binding resolution in the Senate. we'll see.

Call-In segment:
we need to be accountable to Iraq for the mistakes that we've made.
we'll be involved with this for decades
this region is relevant to the broader fight of those who attacked us on 9/11
what we don't want to have is an unending military commitment

question: what will happen to contractors if we pull troops?
question: what will troops be doing if they pull back to the periphery?

responses: these are fair questions.
not all contractors are bad. but there's lots of fishy stuff going on. it's very dangerous for contractors and the reality is our troops cannot provide security for them. it's a fair question whether they will stay if our military leaves. it's not clear the Iraqi gov't can provide security for them so we don't know what will happen.
militarily, we should be using our military to "target" Al Qaeda in cooperation with other countries around the world.
the largest number should be redeployed.
these are good questions because they focus where we should focus which is on "post-intervention" Iraq

most of us are very skeptical that a surge will work.

nothing more important than figuring out our relationship with Iran
we cannot allow Iran to become a nuclear power
we have to know what role Iran is playing in Iraq. is it coming from the gov't or from rogue elements?
if we don't get it right, we could make the same mistakes we made leading up to Iraq
the best thing we can do is look to diplomacy and sanctions

question: reading quote from 1950's military leader about the moral bankruptcy of pre-emptive war

response: pretty solid quote. our attack on Afghanistan was a legitimate act of self-defense. tragically, almost unbelievably, they went with the doctine of pre-emption in Iraq. much of the rest of the world became suspicious of our intentions. we should be a country that does not initiate attacks. this was not what we did going into Iraq.

question: McCain said the troops think a funding cutoff isn't supporting them. why not postpone the Iraq vote to see what the surge does?
response: this war is not working. waiting to see is letting the troops down. the American people spoke on November 7. the greatest disservice to the troops Congress could do is to not do their jobs. the troops want our democracy to work and they want Congress to do something about a situation that is not working. it is a terrible thing to leave our troops in a situation that doesn't make sense.

question: i'm concerned because those dying in Iraq are my age. I'm concerned about bush's "signing statements"? what is the recourse?
response: there is a very real possibility bush would ignore Congress and use a signing statement. it's unlawful but we need to pass a law to stop these signing statements. in the case of Iraq, we would be cutting off funding so a signing statement might not allow him to get away with not following the law.

question: the election was not about the war. it was about immigration. republicans acted like Democrats and that's why they lost.
response: the Iraq war has nothing to do with political parties. the American people, conservatives too, want this war to end and they know it's a mistake and it was a fraud from the beginning.


question: 21,000 troops is only "combat" troops - many more troops will be sent for the surge.
response: that's right - we're already totally strapped - this couldn't be more wrong.

question: neither party seems to make the right call working with our allies. Al Qaeda is supported by Pakistan. why do we ally with them?
response: there's a fair debate about Pakistan. many there support Al Qaeda. Musharraf may or may not be doing all he can. We have to constantly apply pressure. the Taliban is growing stronger throughout the country.

question: the election was not about telling the US to quit in Iraq as the Dems say. The American people want "victory".
response: the American people want us to go after terrorists but they know the Iraq war has made us weaker. there's no question the American people want us out of Iraq and they certainly don't want us to support an escalation.

end of interview.

[liberaldemocrat7]

1. Since I already spoke on cspan earlier this week I sent washington journal email.

I hope they read it.

Here.

I have a plan to end this Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. This will require that the people take control of this effort and pressure Republican contributors through a boycott of their consumer products and demanding the end of the occupation of Iraq and to deploy the troops to the area but not in Iraq.

Everyone who wants to end this occupation please call Republican contributor and war contractor General Electric Corporation at 203-373-2211 and ask for Public Relations and give them an ultimatum.

GET THE GOP to END THE WAR or WE DON'T BUY YOUR PRODUCTS ANYMORE.

Also tell the person this means you will not buy GE lightbulbs, telephones, televisions, radios, stereo equipment, ovens, refrigerators and any other GE products.

NO CEO WANTS THEIR TELEPHONE LINES TIED UP AND TO GET CALLS FROM THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
EVERY DAY WHILE THEY LOSE MONEY. NO CEO. NOT ONE.

"The Republican party appears weak and vulnerable at the cash registers of those companies that donate money to them."

I want each person who wants this war and occupation to end, to tell as many friends as you can and for them to tell as many of their friends and so on and so on until GE and congressional Republicans and Democrats pass a law to stop the war and that the troops deploy out of Iraq.

Go forth and do this.

Thank you.

The Liberal Democratic Party of the United States of America.

http://www.dmocrats.org



Please pass this text on to as many people too.



I'm watching Senator Feingold now.

[rodeodance]

2. i am so so so Proud of my Senator. We need 99 more like him.

[seaglass]

4. Yeah I love Russ, he was my candidate for President. Lucky

you for having him as a Senator - disappointing for America that he decided not to run.:-(

[rodeodance]

3. says we will have to stay engaged in Iraq----We brought some terrorists

into the country

[cool user name]

5. A motherfuckin' hard-on recommend. Thanks for the effort!

[welshTerrier2]

6. thanks so much

it's a tricky business trying to listen and type. i'm not fast enough to capture every word so i try to get as much as i can and make what i type coherent.

sometimes the speaker's intent gets twisted or a word i use gives the wrong impression. this one worked out very well though.

i appreciate the feedback!

[peaches2003]

7. If you see a rerun on Cspan....

....stay tuned for the next 30 minute segment and watch Sen. Craig Thomas (R) Wyoming. He is a quiet mild-mannered soft spoken older gentleman type who gave the Bush line to every question. Not an original thought and every answer given to a Dem caller was basically a lie, such as "Oh, gee whiz, I've never heard any kind of plan to get out of Iraq from any Democrat'. You know why Bush has the Repug Senators lined up behind him like robots when you listen to this guy.

I hope someone from Wyoming will chime in and tell us more about Sen. Thomas.

[joanski0]

8. Thank you very much for this post.

I missed Russ Feingold this morning and am so glad to know what he said. Thanks.