3.31.2003
Friday, March 21, 2003 part one
00:00:00. [01: Kim] [edit]
[ad: Anderson Power]
[ad: Charity Motors]
[ad: Dale Carnegie Institute]
[promo for News Radio 640}
[station id]
Rush: And greetings to you, my friends, and welcome. You are tuned to the Rush Limbaugh program, this- a one and only EIB network- the most eagerly anticipated radio talk show, each and every day. A program with meets and surpasses all audience expectations on a daily basis. Welcome to Friday.
And greetings, my friends, happy to have you along as we get started today. Telephone number is 800-282-2882 and the e-mail address is rush@eibnet.com. Uh, I went and made the decision today to fire up the Ditto-cam at rushlimbaugh.com, for those of you who are subscribers and wanted to be able to listen to the whole program today.
In the event that we again are pre-empted in uh- certain markets around the country as those stations, make whatever decisions they make on covering the uh- the war. Uh, all eyes- at this moment are on Baghdad, the air raid sirens have just gone off in Baghdad. We got news here about a quarter to twelve, twenty-five minutes ago- that the long awaited and eagerly anticipated Shock and Awe battle plan operation was to be commenced at noon.
We do know that a bunch of B-52's took off from the U.K. this morning, sometime between eight and nine eastern time. It's a five hour flight, five to six hours from the U.K. to get to Baghdad. They can be recalled at any time- there are a number of air bases, um- uh, to which they could be diverted. There are a number of other air wings that are being activated at the moment and, uh- people are expecting that this could be it.
The word's been out for- well, at least awhile, that uh- Shock and Awe could start- about now, anytime from now. But what actually has been going on, and I think that it's- it's time to......
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:05:00. [02: Kim] [edit]
... make an, uh- an observation here about the U.S. military. The, uh- the first step that we took in this war was aimed at who? It was aimed at the Iraqi leadership- and it was not part of the plan.
We got some information, some intelligence that said the leadership was where they were and was gonna be where they were for a number of hours. Enabling us to make a decision to launch a so-called surgical strike against them. We've done everything we can in this, uh- conflict so far to even conflicting casualties on the Iraqi enlisted troops.
We're doing everything we can to show them that our harm is not intended towards THEM, uh- it's strictly at the leadership. We have been in negotiations with the leadership, various members of it- trying to negotiate a surrender. We're doing everything we can to get them to stand down and not defend the country and themselves.
And, uh- whether or not Shock and Awe is beginning, it could either indicate one of two things. Either that we think that we've gone as far as we can with the surrender negotiation talks, or they are still underway and the launching of Shock and Awe is designed to be a threatening procedure to pressure them into a final surrender mode.
We'll just have to wait and see, but regardless, we've been making tremendous military progress throughout our battle plans and throughout the, uh- march into Iraq, so far we've met pretty little resistance- as was the case, as was expected. And so it, uh- it commences and proceeds basically according to plan. The focus being that we are still targeting the Iraqi leadership.
As to the status of Saddam Hussein- there still are conflicting reports- the latest is the CIA considers- it was Saddam on tape, but they don't know when. Could've been taped in advance, could've been taped after the attack- they're not sure. There is also a report that came out last night that, uh- Saddam's eldest son, Uday- suffered a cerebral hemorrhage after being involved in a fight with one of Saddam's bodyguards.
And I originally, or initially thought- what a crock!! There is no way this kid, 36, 38 years old's gonna have a cerebral hemorrhage. Obviously the kid was shot trying to escape- or some such thing, and they're putting out some story here that he had a cerebral hemmorhage, uh- after getting involved in a fight with a bodyguard.
Whatever the truth is, it isn't that- there wasn't a fight with a body- it might've been a fight with a bodyguard as a result of the kid trying to escape. Story is now, that the, uh- eldest son, Uday IS dead- that, yeah- Uday is ass-gray (?)- absolutely, the story is- This is- this is what we're being told- and it's not definite, there are- there's speculation that- (clearing throat dramatically) Uday has assumed room temperature.
We also destroyed his, um- his compound- his palatial compound as well, along with the palatial compound of Tariq Aziz. There's another report from ADC News, that the, uh- there were some eyewitnesses on the ground in Baghdad, which saw Saddam Hussein being taken out of that bunker we hit on a gurney- wearing an oxygen mask.
So- I, uh- I must confess to you, and I could be right, could be wrong. The odds are I'm right, cause most of the time I am. But when I first heard of this- and I always have this stream of consciousness e-mail with some friends when all this stuff's going on and we're sending stuff back- we're engaged in chatter that goes back and forth, reacting to what we see on the news.
The first thing I said was, we're going to get him tonight, if we haven't already- I think, if we knew he was there and we unleashed what we unleashed on that building, I think he's dead- I think Hussein's gone. I said that- whenever this all started, Thursday night? Was that- no, Wednesday night- cause today's Friday.
I think Hussein's history (says it hist-waah) and pretty much everybody in that building is too. We just don't know it for sure, and I don't know that we would announce it if we did. If we do know it, we are probably- there is no command and control- coming out of Baghdad. It's, uh- at least for- the best that I've been able to determine that there's no- there's no coordinated command.
Which was actually not unexpected. I mean, we- the, uh- as I said yesterday, the Iraqi's knew that their command and control centers were going to be hit, and that their lines of communication were gonna be destroyed, and they had set up battle plans to accommodate that- where they weren't going to need to pass orders from one group to another, that the groups had been given their orders before the battle started and they were stationary.
They were not gonna be, uh- instructed to move around, and so there was really gonna be no need for orders. But still, the lines of communications have vanished. I also, uh- got an e-mail today, it is amazing, Folks, I have to be honest with you here, um- I know that there alot of protesters out there- one guy fell off or jumped off the Golden Gate bridge, and I know that we've got the protesters in San Francisco and- and all over the country.
And like you- you know, they bother me- but I'm- to me, I think that they're- they're hardly worth even noticing. Other than the people who live in these towns being inconvenienced by them.....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:10:00. [03: Kim] [edit]
... to note that they're siding with Saddam Hussein, who is a mass murderer, who is- (ALOT of stuttering) it's just typical of these people and I- the e-mail I'm getting, and I'm gonna give you as honest a description of this as I can.
There's some genuine hysteria among you people out there, over the way the- the media is covering the protesters and giving them aid and comfort. But I think that you have to look at what the protesters are doing and learn to take solace or even satisfaction from their actions. I mean, to get noticed now- in San Francisco, they're having a vomit-in- they're vomiting out there Don (?)- in order to get noticed.
It's called Shock and Hurl- is what this operation is out there- and, I mean- I just, there go the, uh- looks like the tracers in Baghdad that are being launched- the anti-aircraft tracers. Watching a Sky News feed here, ladies and gentlemen. I- look, I- just like we had a call yesterday from some woman who was just hysterical about- well, upset about Hilary.
It's not worth your time- it's not worth your emotion to get all upset over these people- they're not affecting anybody. Bush's approval numbers are way up, his numbers are way, way up. They are affecting nobody except the Democratic party, with whom they're aligned. They're making themselves look like idiots, you oughta be happy that they're doing what they're doing.
They are- they're setting themselves generations here with this, and I- seriously folks, it's not worth getting all exercised about here. This is not the 1960's, these people are not gonna affect what happens in this war. These people are not going to affect what this President does. These protester's are not going to have one smithereens of effect.
Now, I know Saddam's hoping- I know Saddam- Saddam's plan is to hold us off once we get to Baghdad, and to be able to cause us to stall, and that by- thereby give the protesters in the United States more ammo, uh- to attack Bush and this sort of thing. But that's not going to work, they're not gonna have any impact whatsoever. Don't worry that they are.
These people are irrelevant, they are antiques from a bygone era- they're just sad, disappointed and miserable people anyway. I mean, they're- you know, if they wannna jump off the Golden Gate bridge, let them- and if that's the decision they wanna make, if they can't handle this. If the pressure is so bad, the pain of war is so bad and they wanna jump off the bridge. let them.
But they're not gonna have any impact on what the President does, and they're not gonna have any impact on our troops, and I'm gonna tell you why. I'm gonna tell you why- there's something else that needs to be commented on here. We're doing something we've never done before, we- this process, or this policy called embedding.
We actually have, and I- if you've been watching TV, you know it- because you've been watching sandstorms. You've been watching the media covering a sandstorm in Iraq- you saw a three-hour sandstorm last night, and a bunch of Humvees headed out across the southern deserts of Iraq. It was an exclusive- an exclusive coverage of a sandstorm- but we were all there, we saw it. Didn't see anything else but the sandstorm, we saw it.
Okay, so we saw the inside of the Humvee and the troops that were there, but we saw the sandstorm. It's revolutionary coverage, but here's the point. Back in Vietnam, the troops in Vietnam hated the press, the press were as big an enemy as the North Vietnamese were. You talk to anybody who was in Vietnam and they'll tell you that was the case- they were as stand-offish about the media in Vietnam, as they were of the North Vietnamese.
Cause they didn't think they were getting fair coverage, they thought they were just- the press was simply engaged in anti-war propaganda. False counts- body counts, all this sort of- coverage of atrocities being committed by the U.S. troops- they didn't want any part of it. So what, um- what the Pentagon has done here- really a smart move by- by Rumsfeld, embedding journalists in all of these military operations.
These journalists are actually going into the field, they're actually wearing the same camouflage gear-
Shock and Awe has begun, it looks like, I guess they're now officially saying it has. See, we were right- told ya at the top of the program that it was supposed to happen about now and it has. So, I guess- surrender didn't happen, this will cause the surrender, more than likely.
Anyway, the journalists that are embedded with our troops are getting to know these guys. They're getting to relate to them, they're getting to see who they are, they're- they're experiencing their committment, their courage, their bravery. They're getting to know these people and how they're committed to the mission and as such, the coverage of our military is going to be 3 times, 4 times as positive as it has ever been- in most media outlets.
Now I- I'm going to exempt a couple of networks from this, even though they're embedded out there, they'll- they'll probably turn and run anti-U.S. stories, uh- along with whatever positive ones they do. But, this is- you're going to get much more positive reporting, day to day, about this operation- about the people engaged in it- than we've ever had before.
Meaning that all these people out there protesting are gonna be rendered even more irrelevant. So just calm down- just sit back there- don't get all exercised and upset by this. I don't mind you noticing it, and I don't mind you getting, uh- angry, you can't avoid that. But don't let it ruin your day- they aren't worth it!!
We'll be back, here on the EIB network on Open Line Friday.
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:15:00. [04: Kim] [edit]
[promo for Rush on the EIB network]
[station id]
[ad: spoken ad by Rush for Citracal]
[ad: Fox News Channel]
[ad: Lojack- stolen vehicle recovery system]
[ad: Nextel- digital walkie talkies]
[ad: Mountain Harbor, a resort community in Tennessee]
[station id]
Rush: I'm not so sure that the bomb-dropping- the actual attack phase of Shock and Awe has begun, because- not really a whole lot going on in Baghdad right now, at least according to the video shots that I'm able to see. Now, not to say that the mission hasn't been launched, uh- obviously B-52's en route- and some other air wings, uh- from air bases and aircraft carriers have taken off.
But the actual bombardment, um- is probably yet to come. Because the- there was an interesting question to a member of the military- I forget who asked, I don't even know who the reporter was- "General, has the Shock and Awe system- has the Shock and Awe plan begun yet?"
The General's reply was, if you have to ask, it hasn't. Meaning it's going to be obvious when it starts and so far- I mean, I'm- what I'm seeing, it isn't- it isn't obvious.....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:20:00. [05: Kim] [edit]
... I have here an Associated Press story, this is about the anti-war protests and it says here...
"Galvanized by the American attack on Iraq, anti-war activists around the country set off their own barrage of street protests, chaining themselves together, blocking workers and traffic, walking out of classes, parading in mock chemical suits. Hundreds were arrested from San Francisco to Washington.." says here. "Thursday was one of the heaviest days of anti-government protesting in years."
My friends, I don't mean just to focus on you- and I don't mean to sound like I'm being admonishing. I just- I would hope that- that you don't get so exercised with these people that you worry they're going to have any impact. This does- it- it really isn't worth the increased heart rate and adrenaline flow that this is causing you, if it's bothering you.
But at the same time, I would say to the media- you know, why don't you stop all this propaganda? You, uh- you people in the mainstream press, the- the effort here to portray these protests as some kind of groundswell against the war or against the President is disinformation on a grand scale.
These people no more represent the majority of thought in this country than do the people of France. Than does Jacque Chirac or Dominique de Villepin or any of these people in Germany. These people are a rank, irrelevant minority, and to give them them the kind of press coverage that you're giving them is nothing more than an attempt to foment all kinds of trouble in the country- you can have fun covering.
The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of the American people back this President, they are behind this war- and for all of the good reasons that this war is being conducted. These protests are meaningless, they're not going to be effective- they're totally ineffectual and the more you focus on them, the greater disservice you're doing.
Go ahead and report that they're doing it- but don't spend time giving these people ANY- any sense of weight. Because they don't have it- they are SUCH a minority- I don't care how many thousands there are. There are millions of people in this country, and they do not represent anywhere near the body of thought that's going on.
More and more actors, by the way- the courageous entertaining segment of our population- have decided to not go to the Oscar's on Sunday night. Oh yes, my friends, this takes great courage- Nicole Kidman supposedly not showing up, Tom Hanks is not going to show up now. Elizabeth Taylor said, now I'm not going to go- AIDS is my work now, not acting.
Um, I don't know why they're not going to show, probably because they're worried that there might be action taken against them, gathered in one spot, or for whatever- maybe there have been admonitions from organizers and producers not to, uh- make any statements.
Yesterday the New York Times- I had this in the stack of stuff and I didn't have a chance to get to it. Yesterday in the New York Times, there was a story- a big, long story about how people in California just feel totally- disconnected with the rest of the country, on this war. They just- they can't- they don't, for the life of them- the- this is what the Times said.
I don't believe this either- I've been to California, I know California- I lived there. It's got it's share of ultra-liberal, anti- American kooks. Anti-capitalist kooks- but it's also got it's share of patriotic Americans. This notion that the whole state of Calfornia is somehow disconnected is a crock. But a significant part of the state may well be- but the funniest line in this story- the funniest line in the story was this.
"During some lunchtime and office cooler chatter, there's even been a longing for President Clinton, a Hollywood favorite, who, the reasoning goes, would never have allowed a war to play havoc with Oscar night." If that doesn't say it all about Bill Clinton! He would have never allowed a war to play havoc with Oscar night, meaning he would have waited until after the Oscars to start it. And so they long for Bill Clinton in California. Aren't you happy he's gone?
[ad: X M Satellite Radio]
[station id]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:25:00. [06: Kim] [edit]
[news break, continuing war coverage]
[traffic and weather update]
[more war coverage coming up]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[ad: Direct TV]
[ad: promo for 94.9 Lite FM]
[promo for News Radio 640]
Rush: That's right, my friends, redefining hip on the radio, it's the EIB network- Open Line Friday. Shock and Awe, the massive- massive strike scheduled for Baghdad is obstensibly underway. Shock and Awe, you may have heard- is a- a two day attack, that will- in those two days, drop more ordnance, more firepower on Baghdad than six weeks of the air war.....
Friday, March 21, 2003 part two
00:30:00. [07: Tom] [edit]
-in the Gulf War. We're going to do in two days what we did in six weeks -- unless, of course, they surrender before we actually get this going. I, um, I know [laughing] some of you say, "No! Don't surrender! I want to see this!" [laughing] But -- the -- A-10 Warthogs, those are the tank killers.
Those -- are -- the jets that -- Norman Schwarzkopf said, back in the Gulf War, he wished he'd a had a whole bunch more. Those things -- you can shoot those things up with machine guns from the ground, they just -- you can't bring them down. They just the toughest little airplanes. They got, um, massive jets that are above the fuselage. And that's why they're called Warthogs.
Um, they do have this appearance of a warthog face. The A-10, they're called. And they, um, they just devastating to ground artillery -- and -- mobile systems like tanks and this sort of thing. And not that the Iraqis have much left. I think this is -- um -- it's been a fait accompli since we decided to do this. Still have to execute it and -- make it happen. But they expect to be in Baghdad, and in control of the city, within three to four days.
From, from what we are hearing. Also, waving white flags. Raising their hands to the sky, dozens of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered to coalition forces in southern Iraq today. Some even tried to give themselves up to Western journalists. But the Western journalists said no, I can't accept your surrender, I'm a journalist. I cannot choose sides here.
To do so would be to compromise my journalistic integrity. You want to surrender, go find an American military person, and I'll watch it, but I can't tell you where they are, and I can't help you. I can't hurt you. I'm just here to observe. Be one of the few times a journalist will actually have said and operated in that way. If they actually do it. Actually, I think they are -- they're kind of excited. They're all decked out in their camouflage gear.
They're all decked out like they're, they're soldiers anyway, so they're probably having a lot of fun out there. And then -- somebody comes up and surrenders, they're probably -- uh -- accepting it. The, uh, story is this. Within a few hours of crossing into southern Iraq, the fifteenth marine expeditionary unit encountered two hundred or more Iraqi troops seeking to surrender.
One group of forty Iraqis marched down a two lane road toward the Americans and gave up. One group of Iraqi soldiers alongside a road waved a white flag and -- they raised hands trying to flag down a group of journalists so they could surrender. In the town of Safwan, Iraqi civilians eagerly greeted the first marine division.
So what we thought would happen is happening. Our arrival is being greeted with eagerness and happiness by the oppressed Iraqis that look forward to getting out from under the thumb of Saddam Hussein. Athol, Massachusetts. Rob, welcome to the program. Great to have you with us.
Rob: Hello, Rush. I -- I'd like to talk about the U.N. I hate the U.N. Um, what's the future of it, honestly, cause, you know -- some people love the U.N. I hate it. I think people are educated now. More so, after what just happened. Uh -- are they done? What's the story?
Rush: Well, it's -- two stories that are actually -- going around down there. And -- I -- I wouldn't say I hate the U.N., because I don't hate anybody. I don't hate anything. Um -- well, there are a couple exceptions. But they're -- surreal example. The point is this: the U.N. is as close -- is close to, um, an organization to be held in contempt as I can think of.
And I think that the U.N.'s irrelevance has been totally demonstrated. The U.N.'s purpose has been demonstrated. They are there to stop and thwart and penalize the United States. The United Nations has become a body of meaningless, worthless little nations, who in numbers think they can stop us, thwart us, and cause us grief.
I think that the process over the last twelve months has illustrated how we get no benefit from them. Specially Security Council side. I think the U.N. does some decent charity work. Uh, and -- some of those aid us -- like Unicef. I'm sure there's fraud abound -- abounding in all these things. But for the most part, they can probably be maintained. I think we ought to abandon. I think the U.N. ought to be allowed just to implode of its' own irrelevance and -- and weight.
But I'm afraid that's not what's going to happen. Um -- because I keep hearing the pResident talk about involving the U.N. in the rebuilding and maintenance of post war Iraq. And I don't -- I would, I would urge the pResident. Forget it! Don't involve them! Don't let France in. Don't let Germany in. Don't let them have one bit of a role in -- post war Iraq. Not after their efforts to sabotage this. Not after their efforts to sabotage us.
Uh -- the U.N. has done nothing here that warrants them being participating -- er, being allowed to participate in anything that is good that happens in post war Iraq. They aren't necessary. But from what I hear -- the pRes -- and I don't know if he means it right now, or not. If he's just making diplomatic comments to please a couple people and keep them at bay for now. But -- if -- he means what he says, there will be a post war role for the United Nations in Iraq.
Rob: Okay. Thank you.
Rush: All right. Glad you called. Tom in Hayward, California. Welcome, sir. Great to have you with us.
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:35:00. [08: Brandon] [edit]
TOM: How you doin' Rush, mega-dittoes from the San Francisco Bay Area.
RUSH: Fine, thank you very much.
TOM: Okay, I just wanted to let you know that, uh, to confirm your suspicions about Northern California, or California in general. There's about five million people in the bay area, and only, uh, two to five thousand are protesting at the - this current current time, and I wanted to let you know that, uh, there are many, many more conservatives out here than the media would, uh, let you believe. And, uh, you know, it's just - it's wonderful to have you tell people that most Californians aren't of the nature of the people that are protesting downtown, and...
RUSH: Well, I'm happy to do it. I know it, because I've lived there. I've been there, and I enjoyed it very m - I enjoy it when I go back. I've always found people that are of like mind out there, haven't had any trouble doing that at all. But you know, Tom, it's not even a matter of, uh, of there being conservatives in the Bay Area, of course there are. Programs like this are as popular as any other programs in San Francisco. I've known this for a long time. It's not a conservative or liberal thing.
Uh, the point is, nobody out there is probably taking these protests seriously either, are they? That'd be the real question, whether you're conservative or liberal or not, they're a big hassle in terms of maybe stopping traffic and getting in the way of those kinds of things, but beyond that, they're not motivating and inspiring a lot of people to join them, are they?
TOM: No, that was exactly my point, that nobody really is taking them seriously, people just change their business plans and work around them.
RUSH: Yes.
TOM: And, uh, you know, but I also wanted to let you know that my 15-year-old son, after seeing a lot of things over the last few weeks and, uh, listening to, uh-
RUSH: Me.
TOM: -different reports, and also listening to the Rush Limbaugh show-
RUSH: Yes.
TOM: -has declared himself a conservative, so-
RUSH: Bwa ha ha ha. You know, it's one thing to be one, it's another thing to admit it. We're happy to have him along board.
The Pentagon has officially proclaimed "shock and awe" has begun. FYI. The Pentagon saying this is it. I - no - they've launched it. Well, there's no shock and awe yet. We're not in awe, and nobody's shocked. But they've launced it. They've launched it - I wouldn't rule out that all this is designed to cause the ultimate surrender on the part - we're talking to the Iraqi leadership, you know this, don't you? We've been talking to them for a long time. They're talking to 'em in Washington. Our leaders are talking to them. Not necessarily Saddam, but, um, you know, some of the inner circle.
And it's, um - it's coming up on 9:00. It's about 18 till 9:00 over there right now. Uh, the civilized Iraqis probably just sitting down to dinner, as they are at that time in San Francisco and New York. But nevertheless, they're going to find their dinner to be somewhat interrupted when the shock and awe - don't forget, B-52s aren't due to arrive there for another hour.
And, uh, B-52s, those are called, uh, uh, what's it, buffers. Beffies, Bephyrs, B-52s - when these show up, these things have fifty bombs each and there are six B-52s so these things, when they show up, you (laughs) - that's it. (Laughs) It's over. And, uh, there's still time for them to be recalled, and of course all the other aircraft and missiles that would be part of this are being readied for launch as well.
So when the Pentagon says this is it, I'm sure that the launch order, the strike order's been given, but it takes awhile to mount all this. I guarantee you that an attempt to get a final surrender - because lookit. Folks, despite what some of these protestors would have you believe, we would love to pull this off without firing another shot.
The reason we went after leadership first day with this decapitation plan - get rid of the head - you know, it used to not be this way in warfare. Honest to gosh, you go back to the old days of warfare, you wouldn't think of targeting the general. The general's supposed to be the one that waves the white flag and surrenders and signs the deed, you never went after the general. You never tried to wipe out the leading general. Um, or leader, you just constantly killed as many people as you could along the way, demoralize - if you got the leader, fine, but the leader was really not a target because the, um, the - unless he happened to be where the bulk of the enemy was.
But this is entirely different; this is revolutionary in a lot of ways. We have targeted the leadership at first, and the whole point here is to spare innocent life. If there is ever anybody who wants to make you doubt that we are a humane nation - I mean, we could be laying waste to this country, nobody'd be left alive, there wouldn't be anything to oppose us and stop us, but that's not how we're going about this.
We're making sure that there is as little civilian damage and injury, loss of life as possible; and that's another reason why we are targeting the leadership here, but if you decapitate the leadership and you get rid of command and control, it is thought in this situation that no loyalty to Hussein - the only loyalty he has is brought about by virtue of the fear people for him. If he's dead, then no reason to fear him.
And so I'm sure that's been the, the gambit all along here. The less damage you inflict, the fewer injuries you inflict, the less you suffer at the same time. We'll take a brief timeout here, be back and continue in just a moment on the EIB network...
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:40:00. [09: Kim] [edit]
...stay with us.
[promo for Rush's show]
[station id]
[ad: Avacor]
[promo for the morning news show]
[ad: Mitsubishi Motors]
[spoken ad by the Kimmer for Vision Computers]
[station id]
Rush: Well known radio raconteur, general all-around good guy- a harmless, lovable little fuzzball- Rush Limbaugh, America's truth detector and doctor of democracy. Executing assigned host duties flawlessly, zero mistakes so far. Derek, in Orlando, Florida. Hello sir, and welcome to you.
Derek: Hi, how you doing, sir?
Rush: Thank you, I'm fine.
Derek: Alright, I'm calling because I'm, uh- predicting the liberal argument, once this war campaign is over. I believe that after today, after we've seen all these people who are surrendering, they're going to say that now that we're using shock and awe- that we didn't have to. Cause all these people are surrendering and...
Rush: So what? Who cares? Are you worried about what the liberals say?
Derek: No, I just wanted to predict it.
Rush: Okay, that's good. As long as you're not worried about it, that's okay. You know something? I'm gonna see if I can voice this right. When I started this program in August of 1988- it's August 1st, 1988- this program was it. In terms of national media, radio or tv, this was it. And, of course, you all have the same views about the liberal media then that you have now.
I came along and I started validating what you believed, and all of a sudden, there was a partnership that was built up- all of a sudden, there's someone in the national media who understands life the way you do. Well, we've grown and grown and grown, and now the entire talk radio media is conservative, and we've got the Fox network.
You can- you can almost say, ladies and gentlemen, that this program WAS the shock and awe that took over the American media- launched August 1st, 1988. And throughout, from August 1st to the present- when....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:45:00. [10: Immaadd2] [edit]
Rush: Ever we've seen liberalism on the march; we've pointed it out. We've made fun of it. We've ridiculed it. We have intellectually destroyed it. They don't know what's hit them.
Now I'm gonna tell you that after fifteen years, and having been in my shoes, all the - well it'll be fifteen years in August, fourteen and a half years. After fourteen and a half years of this, seeing what I've seen, republicans taking over the "house". First time in forty years, in 1994. The democrats losing the senate, we're in the Whitehouse, we got all three branches, uhh, well the two branches, congress, and the Whitehouse, and just to - dis to illustrate, duh, - just to, ehh, irritate the liberals, I'll say we have the supreme court too. (Laughing and pounding on desk) We - we do. It's five -- four, but we got the Supreme Court too (giggling and pounding on desk) just jab it in a little further on em. (Thump on desk)
But at some point folks, at some point, uhh, you got to realize that we're - we're if -- if there's a curve here, uhh, that goes from zero, we're just starting and it goes up to where game one is, we're pretty well up that hill. Uhh, we don't need to be worried about them as mu -- I'm not saying forget them - ignore them, but, their day of dominant influence is over, their day of monopoly is over. The day of an anti-war movement effecting, something like a war, like the Viet Nam War is over. Especially in this case, this is a just war, this is a moral war and there is a leader running this war, letting the military do it. It's gonna be done right.
I'm not saying that it's this way for ever, but what I -- what I am trying to say here, is, that... I think you can move on, you don't need to treat the left as thought they are still superior to us. You don't need to act like every time the left opens it's mouth, we lose some converts. It's the exact opposite. It's the left that's losing numbers. The left that's losing strength. It's the left and they know it. And because they know it, they're getting, more shrill, they're getting more (cacoughfidus -- cacophonous?), and they're getting more kooky, or more extreme. They are falling apart. They're cracking up, not to say they won't be back, cause they will at some point, and they're never gonna be as strong as they were, but they sti -- they're still pretty strong in a lot of cases.
I don't want you to think I think that the battles won or the war is won, nothing of the sort, but -- but -- at -- at the same time, uhh. What is it I'm trying to say here? I dis, uhh, uh, ehts, uhh, okay, libs will attack our (shocka?). "I don't care". It's what I'm tr -- "Let them". I'm not worried about what they say after this is over. Now, if we had a republican President with less resolve. If we had a weaker republican pre -- I'd be concerned.
If we had a democrat in the Whitehouse, then of course it would be different story altogether, an that's beca - that's where the ebb and flow of this will come back to bother us uhh, again but, (tap on desk), there are plenty of signs out there that -- that on a- on a day to day basis, we're winning. Sometimes we lose some and by don't want this to sound like you should get over confident and think the game's over. I don't want you to get less vigilant. But I -- I -- I gotta really know what I'm trying to say just don't be so bothered by it. I- I, the idea that we had (thud on desk) da -- jus -- just people yesterday, all concerned about Hilary. "Who cares?" She's not president yet. and she's not gonna be.
This countries not going to elect her. There's no reason to be afraid of it. It isn't going to ha... You think the left is going to come out in groves for Hilary, you haven't seen the right mobilized ever until see gets on that ballet. You want to find out how conservative this country is -- "let em nominate her" and you're gonna find out just exactly how un-liberal this country is. "Don't sweat it". Now, we got a war to win here. We don't care about what the liberals say about it afterwards, we don't care what they're saying about it now. They're wrong now. They've been wrong all their lives. They're going to be wrong tomorrow. We should rejoice in that. We'll be back.
[News Radio 640]
[Ad: General Steel Corporation]
[News]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:50:00. [11: Kim] [edit]
[promo for News Radio 640's war coverage]
[ad: Sunshine Mortgage]
[ad: Ameridebt]
[promo for News Radio 640]
Rush: Let me address one more thing about all- hey, let me ask- have any of you people, um- out there, losing friends over this? Losing family members- do you have friends who are totally against the war, totally against President Bush- and you get into arguments with- are you- cause I've heard of people who are. I mean, I've heard of people who are losing life-long friends over this, uh- having arguments about it.
And, I've- I've also seen, as you have- the news media showing them protesting in Argentina, Outer Slovia- wherever, all these world-wide protests against America. And, you're probably scratching- why do they hate us so much? And, I wanna- now I don't have the answer. I mean, I think I do, uh- in one or two respects.
I don't think they hate America, there's some- there's always going to be some resentment for us, there's always going to be some envy. We're the top of the heap, we did it ourselves, nobody gave it to us- it's human nature. And I'm sure that in your life, you've run into individuals who resent individuals for- what seem to be childish reasons. The nations can do it too- to other nations.
People of one country, en-masse, can have an envy or a jealousy, based on what their media tells them. I think a large part of this has to do the, uh- anger at Bush. I think the world's Socialists, are having to come to grips with a hard cold reality. That their's is a way of utter failure- I think that's what we represent to them- and they're just striking out as a result.
I've got a couple things here I wanna go into too, about this whole business of why does Europe so misunderstand us or hate us, or why do we misunderstand them. Uh, as well as all else going on today, so sit tight.
[station id]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[news break coming up]
[traffic and weather update]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 00:55:00. [12: Tom] [edit]
[warmongering propaganda -- praising 'Shuck and Jive']
[weather]
[station id WGST 640AM]
[ad for concert tour for Cher]
[station id -- promo for more warmongering]
Friday, March 21, 2003 part three
01:00:00. [13: Kim] [edit]
[ad: CompUsa]
[ad: D. Geller & Son Jewelers]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[station id]
Rush: Folks, you have got to- I'm gonna say that- you've got to get to a TV to see this. You may never see this again. Shock and Awe is indeed underway- Baghdad is being blown to smithereens here- I'm sure they're all military targets. Shock and Awe- we've been- we've been waiting for this- somebody's been telling us- two days of intensive attacks that will equal what we did in six weeks in the Gulf War. It is underway.
Greetings, it's Rush Limbaugh- the Open Line Friday edition of the EIB network. 89 degrees out there, ladies and gentlemen, here at the EIB southern command. It's about 2000 degrees in parts of Baghdad, as we speak. This is probably somewhat similiar to what we did to Tora Bora, when we were hunting down Osama Bin Laden- and we just didn't see it.
Probably not on this scale, this is amazing- for those of you watching on CNN, they're- they're helping you to understand what went on, they're running captions to this. Uh, we just saw CNN run the word explosions, on the screen- for those viewers who see it and may not have known what they were watching. It actually- (laughing) says explosions- they did!! They put up a graphic that said explosions while- while Baghdad's going up in flames.
My friends, here's- here's another way to look at this, if- if you're in front of a TV set now, um- no reason to turn this program off, we can give you running commentary on this as well as anybody else can. But here's the thing- if you really wanna feel- if you wanna experience some satisfaction watching.
Cause this is- remember my story about fly-overs? My fly-over, the first one I saw in San Diego. When those two jets- the national anthem's being played, the whole football field at Jack Murphy stadium is decked out with the American flag. And Herb Alpert's playing the national anthem, those jets- you could see 'em coming.
He gets to the last note, has to hold it a little longer than normal- those jets fly over, and the roar is like nothing I have heard before, and I was just- I was standing up and cheering. I had not- honestly, I had not not felt so proud- I'll use the word patriotic- and I was banging on the shoulder of the friend standing next to me. I said, "My god, how can you- how can you see this and ever be a Democrat?" Or vote for a Democrat, something like that.
And of course, two Democrat's were standing in front of me from Washington- they turned around and gave me glares. But I didn't care- but, just think of- you're watching this- just imagine- if you even wanna enjoy.....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:05:00. [14: Drew] [edit]
All the more - just imagine the war protestors looking at this. Imagine these little nattering nabobs walking around San Francisco and Chicago [indistinct] and watching this. Ah, such satisfaction.
Rush, you sound like you're taking great pleasure here from what is no doubt devastation and destruction. That's not from what I'm taking satisfaction, my friends, I'm taking satisfaction here from watching the most powerful military force ever assembled in the history of the world execute orders. Do what they said they were going to do, for what I consider to be a moral purpose. A high moral purpose.
And by the way, a British commander has said the reason they're moving into Baghdad a little earlier than they had actually planned on going, and the reason that they're doing this - the reason shock and awe is underway, the reason they're in a hurry to get to Baghdad - is to disrupt the Iraqi leadership's ability to direct military operations and deploy any use of weapons of mass destruction.
General Albert Whitley, the deputy commander of the U. S. - British land forces told Reuters, "The start has gone very well indeed. We are across the boarder. We are well into Iraq, and we're heading into Baghdad to make sure that we get there before any weapons of mass destruction are employed." And that's, again, part of the moral and the just cause that is under way.
You know, right before the end of the previous hour - and we are, by the way, because so many - well, I don't know how many - some stations are probably pre-empting this for the predictable network coverage, the droning of Peter Jennings expressing disgust at what he's seeing, probably, and all that - pre-empting us for that. But if you - if you want, you can get the in its entirety on our dittocam audio and video feed, if you are a subscriber, at www.rushlimbaugh.com.
And last hour, talked a little bit about - I'm sure you're seeing all these protests around the world - Argentina and Outer Slobadnick and wherever it is - all these people supposedly anti-America, anti-Bush. There's a reason for it, and I know it's not easy to see, and it disturbs you because you don't understand, if these people knew us, why they would dislike us.
But what we are demonstrating here - yeah, we got a coalition, we got a larger coalition than we had in the Gulf War - but let's be honest, you take the Brits and us out of this, and there's no fighting force. We're it. And even to that extent, we are the vast majority of it. I'll tell you what's on display here for the rest of the world. It's one thing to consider the U. S. a superpower. It's quite another to see it.
There's no country on the face of the earth that can do what we're doing today. If they wanted to, they couldn't. If they had just as moral a cause, just as moral a reason, just as high-brow a purpose, they couldn't do it. This is intimidating to some people. And it's also - I'm sure some people are angered by it - don't forget, the world does have a lot of socialists, the word does have a lot of liberals, the world's got a lot of linguini-spined people - and they just don't think this is fair.
They just don't think it's right that a country like this - a country should be this powerful. They just - it's just not right. And they see this kind of power on display - and if you're a linguini-spined person to begin with, I mean, this is really - this is going to melt the linguini that is your spine, you're basically not going to be able to stand up once you watch this. I mean it's an intimidating thing.
We don't intend harm to people who - we go out of the way to avoid using military force this way. We don't even threaten the world with this. We are a deterrent and defensive force, and that's what this action is. You know, the thing the world will not understand - this is one of the great misunderstandings, I think, that's out there. And I think you need to take this into consideration.
We've been around for less than 250 years. We have expectations of our lives here based on our existence, and those expectations are pretty optimistic. We expect to be able to have families that will grow up being educated, and they'll be able to have a future and live to the life expectancy and beyond. In a nutshell, that's what we expect out of this country. And that our lives are going to be pretty comfortable.
Some of them are going to have challenging aspects to them. Not everybody is going to do as well as others. But in this country, the opportunity to be born is a great thing. The chance at life here is better than it is anywhere else. And when that's threatened, as it was on September 11th, the people of this country, minus these few thousand you see in San Francisco and Chicago - who don't count because you can't count on them.
I mean, they really don't count folks. They don't count to me. We can't count on them, so why
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:10:00. [15: Drew] [edit]
If it was left up to those people, we don't have any - so they don't count, because we can't count on them.
But the fact of the matter is, we have been threatened. Our way of life is under assault. We're not going to put up with it. We are not going to sit here and put up with our way of life being assault - we are doing something about it, and that's what this is.
So it may well be that an 18 to 21 to 25 year old person, man or woman, has to leave home, go out, and fight this war. Be involved in it. So that they can come back in a couple years and resume their life and give birth to others will pursue the same things. And that's what this is. And then if we can liberate others who are oppressed, and bring to them the same hopes and dreams that we have, all the better.
I think the rest of the world has a tough time understanding that. They have a tough time believing it, seeing it, understanding it. They don't understand our inherent optimism. I mean, Americans - many people in this country probably don't even know how optimistic they are compared to the majority of the people that live on this planet.
Your expectations of life, even if you don't think you have very high expectations, your expectations far exceed the average Somalian's, the average Ethiopian's, the average Israeli's, the average Russian. Your expectations, the things that you practically demand out of life, are things they wouldn't even dream of in a fantasy. We expect them.
I think the rest of the world looks at that and sees arrogance or conceit. We look at that, we don't make any excuses for it, because we created it. Nobody gave it to us and we didn't steal it from anybody. Contrary to what the multiculturalists are trying to say, we didn't steal anything. We don't steal from the world. We feed the world. We clothe the world. We energize the world. And we provide the world with all the technological advance that it has.
We have, in this country, demonstrated the full scope of human potential, the full scope of human possibility. Rest of the world has not done so. Some have come close, and there are many cultures that have quite advanced aspects, but overall, there has never been a country on earth like this. And probably will never be again. And there will not be another as long as we're around, because people are going to come here to experience what is here. So all of these things, I think, add up to some intimidation and some anger, jealousy.
And then you throw in politics. Let's face it. There are a lot of socialists who just hate capitalism. Their views are distorted, they're totally wrong about it, but I mean, we can try to persuade them one at a time. But it shouldn't cause us - and this is where so many American liberals are frustrated with us - we shouldn't feel guilty about what we have.
We don't need to feel as though we haven't earned it. We don't need to feel that what we have is illegitimate. Because it isn't. It is all genuine, it is all the result of hard work, entrepreneurism [sic]; it's the essence of freedom maximized on display. Brilliant things happen to this country. The full scope of human potential is on display here every day. And it's not in other parts of the world.
And so there are a whole lot of reasons. The reason I'm saying all this is - don't go nuts when you see all these anti-American protests. Remember the trains, boats, and planes of the world are still packed to the gills with people trying to get here. The media always shows you the negatives. Just like the protestors in this country - they don't anywhere come close to representing the majority thought here. Nor do the protests of people around the world.
And if they do, in fact, represent the majority opinion in France, so what? What's France gonna do about it? I heard a story today that 10,000 French protestors showed up at the American embassy in Paris, and the two marine guards on duty frowned at them, so they left. Then 10,000 protestors were intimidated by a frown and went an destroyed a McDonalds. [indistinct] They're harmless people, they're gutless wonders. The wine and brie set. That's what we've taken from France, and most of those are in California, having a good old time, not even realizing what's going on.
Quick break, and we'll be back, continuing on open line Friday here on the EIB network.
[ad: Rush]
[ad: NewsRadio 640 WGST]
[ad: OnStar]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:15:00. [16: Kim] [edit]
[ad: Nexium]
[ad: FreeCreditReport.com]
[promo for the morning news show]
[ad: Mountain Harbor, a resort community in Tennessee]
[news break, Shock and Awe is underway]
[station id]
Rush: We're watching the siege of Baghdad. Welcome back, by the way. Rush Limbaugh here, the EIB network. If you're watching the, uh- shock and awe of Baghdad, there's a lull going on right now.
I, uh- I'm told that what we just saw was nowhere near the full force of Shock and Awe. Uh, this is just the initial attack, but the full capablity here we've not even seen- that the B-52's not even there, there's some anti-aircraft fire up north in the Kirkuk oil field region. Which mean's some, um- aircraft are coming down from the North, as part of the attack.
As I said, I don't think the B-52's have been part of this yet, they're due anytime now- close to 2 o'clock. It's a five hour trip, they left about nine a.m.- it put them in- if- if that time I have is accurate. Uh, that would put them over Baghdad around 2 o'clock eastern time, nine p.m. in Baghdad.
One of the reasons for this lull could well be- okay- talking to the leadership. "Okay, you had enough here? You guys wanna cry uncle?" One of the problems of that may be that if we've really gotten after their command and control- we know we have. How can we be sure that we're talking to somebody that can speak for the whole Iraqi government right now?
If it's not Hussein- I mean, you've got one little general you're talking to- may be living in fear. Um, being guarded by Iraqi secret police- how can he, in fact, surrender for the entire operation? They don't know that- that kind of ability to communicate throughout the whole Iraqi command and control structure exists.
They are also meeting a little stronger resistance in the town of Basra, in the south, than they thought they would. And, down there it's just the, um- as I read here moments ago, the oft maligned regular Iraqi army down there- that is putting up strong resistance. Not- not a Republican.....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:20:00. [17: Immaadd2] [edit]
Rush: Guard position, but just the off the line regulars who were thought to quit the moment we showed up. They're not quitting. It's a Shiite city too, an that's a lot of people thought an that's the a -- the a sector that's anti-Saddam, and they thought the minute we showed up, the Shiite's would take up arms perhaps against, ehh, Iraqi oppressors. Well, uhh, well apparently it's not happening. Uhh, Basra will fall, but it's uhh, not going as quickly -- apparently as was thought, the outset.
Let go to San Diego, this is Mark. You're up, sir on open line Friday. Hi...
Mark: Hey, how ya doing...
Rush: Just fine
Mark: You made the point about losing friends, and I, funny you say that because I've lost several friends in the last two weeks over this whole, the whole thing, and there is that, what we're doing is wrong and of course, like I have a choice, I'm a marine. I'm here in San Diego and I don't have that kind of choice, and it -- trying to explain to them, what we're doing and why we're doing it, just doesn't seem to work, you know, and it -- it to me it felt like, at this uhh, barbeque that we went to, that is was a -- trying to inset me into, changing my mind, and it -- and it just not going to happen. Uhh, one (rush interrupts)
Rush: Wha -- what ta, what - what are the reasons, that they, and by the way, the reason I ask the question, because I've heard of it. I - I've heard of people with (thud on desk) you know, thirty year friendships, having them blown to smithereens cause of this. Uhh, the people supporting this, uhh, seem to be the calm cool collected ones, and the ones opposed to this get hysterical. And they get outrageous. And they ca... Is - is that what you run into?
Mark: Correct.
Rush: Yeah, and eh, eh, what do they -- why do they tell you, they're upset about this? What's -- what do they accuse you of -- of being, when they -- when they -- when they accuse you of being for it? I -- I guess I'm more interested in what their attitude is like, and what they claim to be, in opposition to.
Mark: It seems to be that they're not as educated, and that's one of the things I find, if you educate yourself by reading or listen to programs. You find out what - what the real issues are. Uhh, you know, one of the things was "Blood for Oil". It's not about "blood for oil", and I (Rush interrupts),
Rush: Yeah, see. I've heard that too. Mark, that's incredible. The -- the people that -- that were - that told me that they were having trouble, here, in their friendships are (unintelligible) "Blood for Oil" or some similar slogan that is totally irrelevant to what's going on here.
Mark: You know
(Rush talking over Mark) Rush: and -- and they're -- they're - they're unable to explain, ehh even to people who, uhh, are uhh, their friends. What -- as you say, what this is really all about. You know what's (talking over Mark) amazing to me. Saddam Hussein has killed more Muslims, than anybody in the world. Saddam Hussein. Look at these people protesting out in California, San Francisco. Look at these people protesting in Chicago. I'll bet they're the same people, that show up, anytime there's a environmental movement uhh, protesting something, they protest a oil well being dug in Alaska, they protest uhh, anything that having to do with energy uhh, expansion in California. This guy has already lighted seven oil wells, in Iraq. He a -- he com - he committed more environmental pollution after the Gulf War, than anything that's happened in totality of the United States via our technology and our way of life. And yet he is totally exempt of any criticism by these people. It's as though they don't even know, that these things about him exists.
Mark: The friend that I lost is from Frisco, or one of the friends I lost is from Frisco, and when trying to bring up those points, uhh, they turn a deaf ear to it, you know, they want me to listen to the points that their making, you know, that this is wrong, that we're, you know, we're --we're arrogant, you know, and, eh, eh, things are such as, well 9/11, it was something that we deserved, and that is the big point, you know, (Rush interrupts)...
Rush: You are te... you - you mean to tell me that these friends of yours are - are of the frame of mind we deserved 9/11?
Mark: Through our arrogance. Through -- through the projection, that "We are the American's" that - that we had it coming in a sense, and I -- and I (Rush interrupts -- "Well you know what?) you can't argue that point, you can...
Rush: No, you know, you're not going to persuade em. I'm gonna te - Mark don't even try, because what's ha - those people are just immersed in their own emotions. There's not one bit of reason or logic that uhh, causes them to arrive at the position that they're at. You're wasting your time. It 's best to just forget, it and maybe, salvage the friendship when this is over. We'll be back here in just a second here folks, don't go away.
[Ad: AutoZone]
[Ad: 94.9 Lite FM]
[News Radio WGST 640]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:25:00. [18: Kim] [edit]
[news break]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[ad: Baranco Lincoln-Mercury]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[ad: Dale Carnegie Institute]
[ad: Just Brakes]
[promo for News Radio 640]
Friday, March 21, 2003 part four
01:30:00. [19: Kim] [edit]
Rush: We are awaiting a Pentagon press conference- scheduled to start (pronounced sheduled)- that's the British pronunciation, by the way- scheduled to start at 1:30, 3 minutes ago. It has not begun, when it does we'll go there and "jip" it- join it in progress.
There's a lull in the Shock and Awe campaign, I- I did read a crawl on the Fox News channel, the B-52's were involved. So they, uh- they were a part of the first wave of shock and awe. There's a lull now, and the theory is that surrender terms are again being offered and negotiating.
Saddam Hussein's primary palace said to be burning- he's got 35 though- he's got 35 palaces, so we've got 34 to go to- if he's still breathing. Which I frankly, I- I tend to think that we got him, but- that's just a hunch. At any rate, the um- the- I'm sure what's happening here, if- if this report is accurate- that we are in this lull because we're seeking surrender from the people who are in charge of things now in Baghdad.
Apparently, what we saw was not anywhere near what the full force and capability of shock and awe is. That this was sort of just a little tease. "Okay, this is just about 10% guys, of what we have. Uh, if you wanna talk about giving up now, fine. Otherwise, we'll show you the rest of what we've got- we can do this for two days."
Shock and awe is a two day planned operation. And again, one of the reasons for moving in as quickly- we weren't expecting to get into Baghdad for three or four days and I think that's still operative in terms of ground forces to move in and actually occupy the city. But the primary objective here, among other things, is to see to it that whatever weapons of mass destruction, um- the Iraqi's have are not utilized. That they can't get to them and light 'em, in essence.
To the phones we go back now, Terre Haute, Indiana. Greg, welcome to the EIB network, hello.
Greg: Hi Rush, it's a real priviledge to talk to you...
[news bulletin- Pentagon press conference]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:35:00. [20: Immaadd2] [edit]
Rumsfeld: close to Saddam Hussein, will likely begin searching for a way to save themselves. Those whose obedience is based on fear may well begin to lose their fear of him. Officers and soldiers in the field will increasingly see that their interests lie not in dying for a doomed regime, but in helping the forces of Iraq's liberation. To those in the Iraqi chain of command some words of advice: "Do not obey regime orders to use weapons of mass destruction. Do not obey orders to use innocent civilians, as human shields. Do not follow orders to destroy any more, of Iraq's oil wells or to blow up dams, or to flood villages. Those who carry out such orders, will be found and will be punished."
We are especially grateful, for the direct military involvement of the forces of Great Britain and Australia and Poland, and so many other countries. And we are deeply grateful for the support of each of, the now, forty-five nations that have publicly associated themselves with the coalition effort in Iraq. We did not choose this war. Saddam Hussein was given a choice, by the international community. Give up your weapons of mass murder, or lose power. He choose unwisely, and now he will lose both. As in Afghanistan our objective in Iraq is not conquest or colonization. Iraq belongs to the Iraqi people. Our objective is to bring down a regime that threatens the American people, with weapons of mass destruction and create conditions where Iraqi's can establish a new government, one that respects the rights of it's diverse population, and the aspirations of all Iraqi's to live in freedom, and to choose their own leaders.
To American forces and those of our coalition partners, let me say this "Know that we are proud of you, that we stand with you today, we have every confidence in your courage, your tenacity, and your ability to get this job done. All American hold you and your families, in our thoughts and prayers today". General Meyers.
General Meyers: Thank you Mr. Secretary. I too want to extend my deepest condolences to the families, of the marines of both U.S. and our British allies, who died in the helicopter crash yesterday, and to the family of the marine killed in action, earlier this morning.
These brave men died, fighting for their nation and the safety of the world. Operation Iraqi Freedom, our effort to disarm Iraq, and dismantle the Iraqi regime is fully under way. But, before I go into that, I want to recap what has happen in the last forty - forty-eight hours, and how we got to where we are now.
On Wednesday afternoon, we conducted early battlefield preparations by taking out air defense threats, radar communication sites, and artillery that could pose a threat, to coalition forces. Some of these targets included radar in western Iraq and near Basra, in southern Iraq, artillery pieces near el - Al Faw, and Az Zubay, near Kuwait, and surface-to-surface missiles in the south. Later, Wednesday evening coalition forces began inserting special operations forces throughout western and southern Iraq, to conduct recognizance operations and to take down visual observation posts on the southern Iraqi border. At the same time that we briefed yesterday, we took advantage of a leadership target of opportunity in Baghdad.
Specifically, we, struck, at one of the residents in southeastern Baghdad, where we thought the leadership was congregated. We also took down and struck an intelligence service headquarters in Baghdad and a Republican Guard facility. They were targeted with nearly forty - forty tomahawk land attack cruise missiles from coalition ships, in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Two Air Force F117's also dropped precision guided 2000lb penetration weapons, on these leadership targets. Then yesterday we launched more than 20 (t-lams?) against 8 targets in Baghdad, which included several Baghdad Special Security Organization sites. As most of you know, the Special Security Organization is that organization that protects the senior Iraqi leadership. Also on Thursday, coalition ships launched some 10 (t-lams?) against 3 Republican Guard targets in Kirkuk, in the north. In the last 24 hours, Special Forces have seized an airfield in western Iraq, and have secured border positions in several key locations. Additionally, Navy Seals and coalition Special Forces have seized Iraq's two major gas and oil terminals...
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:40:00. [21: Immaadd2] [edit]
General Myers: in the northern Persian Gulf. There were embedded media uhh, with the Seals, and their reports should be out shortly.
I also have a graphic, I think they'll bring it up -- and it's up now; good. Coalition ships boarded three Iraqi tugboats in the Khor Abdullah waterway and found weapons, uniforms and mines. Over 130 mines, including influence mines, were discovered. Our naval veh - vessels are being extra vigilant to ensure the Iraqi Navy has not placed any mines in international waters.
On the ground, as you know, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, along with our coalition partners, crossed into Iraq, and they have now secured the port city of Umm Qasar and the al-Faw peninsula. They have also secured the main oil manifolds along the al-Faw waterways, and have moved through the southern Iraqi oil fields. These fields, if we're successful, should be secured sometime later today, and they will be a great resource for the Iraqi people as they build a free society.
Last night, at approximately 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the rest of the ground campaign began in earnest when the 3rd Infantry Division rolled into southern Iraq. There's been a lot of reporting on this, of course, with some of the embedded media. At this hour, our ground forces have pushed close to 100 miles inside Iraq.
Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began, coalition aircraft have flown more than 1,000 sorties and dropped scores of precision-guided munitions on Iraqi military targets. I have two gun-camera shots from yesterday; both are from F-14s as they dropped on missile targets in southern Iraq. The first is targeting a missile support vehicle.
[News Radio WGST640]
The second is an Iraqi missile storage facility in Basra. And if you note in the bottom of that picture, you'll see another fire; that was hit from a previous strike from the same flight.
As you've seen from the TV coverage, from embedded media, clearly we're moving towards our objectives, but we must not get too comfortable. We're basically on our plan and moving towards Baghdad, but there are still many unknowns out there.
We have dropped millions of leaflets over Iraq telling the Iraqi people our intentions and asking the Iraqi military to lay down their arms. In fact, some Iraqi soldiers are surrendering and abandoning their positions in the south and also in the north. Clearly, many Iraqi military, are heeding our message that it is better to fight for the future of Iraq, than to fight for Saddam Hussein.
That brings us up to date. So now, within the last hour, coalition forces have launched a massive air campaign throughout Iraq. Several hundred military targets will be hit over the coming hours, but we're getting into future operations here, and I'm going to let those details be briefed by CENTCOM, uhh, tomorrow.
Finally, I have two messages.
First, to the commanders and soldiers of the Iraqi forces, I urge you in the strongest possible terms: Do the honorable thing, stop fighting, that you may live to enjoy a free Iraq, where you and your children can grow and prosper.
The second message, to the men and women of our armed forces, and to our allies and our coalition partners and to all their families, I salute you for your sacrifice, your courage, and your professionalism.
Be confident that you are well prepared, well trained, and well supported in the mission that lies ahead. Take pride in the legitimacy and the necessity of your mission. Show compassion for the lives that this war, will forever change, but rest assured, the outcome is not in doubt. We will disarm the Iraqi regime and ensure their weapons of mass destruction, will not fall into the hands of terrorists. And with that we'll take your questions.
Rush: Okay, we're going to get out of this at this point, the uhh, I think that's pretty much all they'r going to say about this CENTCOM that will - will provide details breifs of Central Command of it's General Franks will provide the uhh, the primary breif on "Shock and Awe". The is not over yet. They will probably take care, he said tonight or tomorrow.
We'll take a breif time out here on the EIB Network. Be back in just a moment. Stay...
[Ad: Limbaugh Letter]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:45:00. [22: Immaadd2] [edit]
[EIB Network]
[Ad: AutoZone]
[Ad: LoJack Security Systems]
[Ad: Lennox Financial Mortgage]
[ABC News]
[News Radio WGST 640]
Rush: Let's go to Roger, San Francisco, on the EIB network, Hello Roge -- welcome...
Roger: Rush, remember me, the uhh, Eastern Airlines guy...
Rush: Ohh! Roger... you're the uhh, you're from New York...
Roger: Well, originally, but I - I'm out here, I- - I got the uhh, I (cook?) here, I have the factory out here...
Rush: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I reca -- who this is, uhh, Ro -- Roger, hang on -- hang on, are you on a cell phone, by the way...
Roger: No, no, no I on my factory...
Rush: Okay, he's in his factory. Well, hang on here just a second so I explain, Roger, used to work for Eastern Airlines back there in the Frank Borman days, member him, Mr. Snerdly and uhh, you were laid off uhh, many people were, and he is a devote Marxist, and he is uhh, uhh, devote union socialist so forth. We've had many fun discussions back and forth, here and I remember, yeah, you've called from San Francisco before...
Roger: Yeah.
Rush: and uhh, and -- and we've uhh, we've uhh, uhh, we've had many enlightened discussions, and uhh, and I tell you what, you know, I - I've gotta catch up here, I hate to do this folks, but I -- I have to do another commercial break, here jus -- just to stay even, so that we don't lose ground in that regard. Other wise we have to make it up in the next hour, anyway, Roger hang on, I may not get to you in the first part of the next hour, but I promise I will, uhm, be cool folks, we'll be right back, don't go away. We got a lot to do here...
[News radio WGST 640]
[Ad: XM Satellite]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:50:00. [23: Kim] [edit]
[ad: X M Satellite Radio]
[ad: The Doctor's Nightguard, a plastic mouthguard for people who grind their teeth]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[ad: Bayer Aspirin Pharmacist Report (?)]
[ad: Bayer Aspirin]
[ad: JointRitis Medicated Patch]
[promo for News Radio 640]
Rush: Okay, Roger in San Francisco- the San Francisco Marxist. I'll give you a little preview- he, uh- and this is a bit of- speaking of shock and awe, it's a little shock. He's going to condemn the protesters in San Francisco, which, uh- is a departure for him. We'll get to him right when the next hour begins- the third hour of Open Line Friday will commence here, soon after our top of the hour news break. So sit tight and we will continue, my friends- undaunted, we ARE Americans.
[station id]
[ad: Hi Fi Buys]
[station id]
[news break]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 01:55:00. [24: Tom] [edit]
[warmongering propaganda -- promo for 'Shuck and Jive']
[stocks and weather]
[more promotional propaganda for 'Shuck and Jive']
[station id 640 WGST]
[ad for Dale Carnegie courses]
[more warmongering propaganda]
[ad for Direct TV]
Friday, March 21, 2003 part five
02:00:00. [25: Kim] [edit]
[ad: Direct TV]
[ad: Just Brakes]
[promo for News Radio 650 WGST]
[station id]
Rush: I've just been perusing the e-mail, ladies and gentlemen, during the news break here at the top of the hour. Welcome back- Rush Limbaugh, the Excellence in Broadcasting network and it's great to have you with us. It's Friday, and you know what that means....
(announcer voice-over: Live from the sunny command in sunny south Florida, via New York City, it's Open Line Friday!!)
Rush: Yes-siree bob, my friends, happy to have you along. Um, some of the questions- there's a part of me that wishes we'd stuck with this just for this reason. Some of the questions Rumsfeld is getting from the press- now this is *inaudible*- why we tuned out of it, but I guess for the entertainment value, it would've been fun to hang on.
Some guy actually asked Rumsfeld- why- why aren't you, uh- picking more precise targets and fewer targets here, instead of just bombing 100 targets? Why- I- I- you know, it's- it's amazing who can be a journalist today. It is literally amazing and must not take much brains to end up being a journalist.
It's, uh- but it might be wise to enact here, if we can have enough samples- the Katie Couric award winner of the day, which would be for the stupidest question today. Cause there have been three or four people that qualify for the award just in the Rumsfeld press conference today.
Here's the telephone number, 800-282-2882. Permit me a brief sales pitch, if I may be so bold and honest. I said I was reaching the- reading the e-mail here and I just got a note from a guy in New Orleans- and I'm sure this is happening, uh- around the country, given the Shock and Awe operation today.
Guy said we've had about ten minutes of you, total today. He said it's either- what we're getting here is commercials, followed by network coverage of the bombs- with a reporter telling us about the bombs. Then commercials, then back to the network and frankly I'd rather be listening to you, but I- cause I'm sure you're telling us all this, plus what you think about it and some other things.
I wrote him back , says you're right. But I just want to say, folks- to the people who are subscribers to Rush 24/7- are able to listen to the program in total. There are no pre-emptions, cause I never pre-empt myself- and in addition to that, they can watch the program take place here, uh- by activating the Ditto-cam feed.
Which, we make no- I mean, compromises when it comes to our broadband, we've got the finest video and audio signal possible to have out there for our- for our subscribers. This is one of the great days- reasons for subscribing, cause we can't control these pre-emptions. These radio stations think that they've- they've got to stay on top of the news of the day to fulfill their news image in their market....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:05:00. [26: Carl] [edit]
Note to editor: Checked: Lasalle, Proudhon
...and realized that we are providing just as much news coverage here with expert commentary as they're getting from the networks. And I would venture to say that the coverage here is not nearly as angering or frustrating as the network coverage probably is, because here it's more than likely supportive and enthusiastic about what we're seeing. Anyway, back now to Roger in San Francisco.
Roger, first off it's great to hear from you. It's been over a year, I think, maybe longer since I've talked to you.
Roger: The last time was the China incident.
RL: OK, yeah. When they downed our airplane.
Roger: Yeah yeah yeah. But listen, let me just preface real quick. Marx spoke about scientific socialism, and he condemned people like Lasalle and Proudhon, who were utopian socialists. That's basically what I'm going to do.
Roger: These idiots in San Francisco, I hope they get locked up. What they're doing is, for the most part, they're disrupting traffic, give you a for instance. Yesterday I was going downtown to my favorite tobacco store, and I saw one of these dopes pick up, you know the orange cones that divide - for safety?
RL: Yes.
Roger: The orange cones that were on the side of the road where they're supposed to stay behind. Now these idiots on bicycles threw them in the middle of the streets. And that causes a hazard, you know, people may try to avoid that, get in accidents. I totally condemn the tactics of these people.
RL: So what they're doing is basically irritating the people they're trying to persuade.
Roger: Well, they're endangering the lives of innocent people. Now, also, going home last night it was dark out. Going over the Bay Bridge - I don't know if you know the Bay Bridge or not -
RL: Of course I know the Bay Bridge!
Roger: These idiots were on bicycles, no reflectors, dark clothing, and they were going on Interstate 80. Now, if they get killed by a driver that doesn't see them - now it was dark at night, at the time -
RL: It's Bush's fault.
Roger: That's the idiot's fault on the bicycle!
RL: No, it's Bush's fault for starting the war.
Roger: Now, come on, I'm trying to be serious now.
RL: OK, I'm pushing, it's their opinion.
Roger: Well, they're idiots. And I hope a lot of them get thrown in the clink. Because - they're not going to, because Pier 26, that's where they're processing most of them now.
RL: Hey, Roger, would it be safe to say that they're not persuading anybody?
Roger: They're aggravating people. I mean, I'm against the war. There's no question, I'm against the war. But there's a way to demonstrate that you get your point across, there's a peaceful way to do it. Remember - I'll give you a for instance. Dr. King in '68, before he got killed, he was with the sanitation workers, correct? You remember that?
RL: Not specifically, no.
Roger: He was in Memphis, before he got killed. And the strikers there, they had the signs on, that said, "I am a man." You know how far of a message that was. Now, they weren't yelling at people, they weren't disrupting - that sign alone was a powerful powerful message. There's a ways to do it peacefully, and you can get your message across. Not like these idiots here.
RL: Well, OK. Let me ask you a question. As somebody who's opposed to the war, if you were engaged in a protest that you thought was wise, what would your objective be?
Roger: Well, I would go out, in a peaceful manner, have my signs, you know, you can do your chants and things like that.
RL: No, I understand, but what do you hope to accomplish, I'm saying, what is the end result of your protest? You're trying to persuade people to join you.
Roger: Yes, I would like to get the message out, that they would look at the issue and come to their own conclusion. I mean, they would have to come to a conclusion on their - whatever way they choose, but I like to get...
RL: Yeah, OK, well, I'll bite here. What is your reason for opposing this action?
Roger: Well, I could pass your kook test, I know that, with 97%. I know that. Because I think the first war, I think was set up by the CIA anyway. You want to hear it?
RL: Well, sure, we'll hear that, but I really want to know what it is you have as your primary reason to oppose this, as opposed to what the administration says their purpose is, obviously you don't believe that, so there's got to be something - you oppose this war.
Roger: OK - the first war, I think that, we had the supposed peace dividend. And I believe that Saddam said to the CIA, "I want to go into Kuwait." I think the CIA said, "Yeah, go ahead, rattle your saber." This way, they could - the CIA and the administration - the first George Bush, which, I hate him, would go to the Congress and say, "Hey, we still have bad people out there. We don't have a peace dividend. We have to give our friends in the Defense Department the money."
RL: Oh, I see. This was a way to re-orient peace dividend money back to the defense budget.
Roger: Absolutely.
RL: Yeah.
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:10:00. [27: Tom] [edit]
Roger: -and, the thing of it is, if - as they did go to war. All right - I was against the war. However, you should have went in then because Saddam - you - they should have whacked him out a long time ago. The guy's a freaking lunatic.
Rush: Yeah.
Roger: I don't - I don't like him. But I just don't want to see innocent people. And I - see - I think what's going to happen now, Rush, is I think that the - there's going to be a backlash. Maybe not this year - maybe next year. Where the, uh, Arab states and - the - middle Eastern, Persian and middle Eastern states are - there's gonna be a backlash. Because it's just like if I say something about your brother.
Rush: Yep.
Roger: All right. Um -
Rush: You think I'll bide my time and come after. Well - how -
Roger: You'll get angry at me. You know -
Rush: How - how will this - my time is running out here, how will this - backlash - that will come next year - or - whenever, manifest itself, do you think?
Roger: I'm not sure. I'm not sure. You know, I'm - I - I'm just real concerned about that. That's what I - hey listen -
Rush: Well a lot of people are. This - is one of the reasons that people have - I think a genuine opposition to this. There's a little fear. They think that this kind of thing is going to cause anger at us to be manifested, say, in further terrorist attacks. And - other things. I happen to subscribe to a different theory. Uh - as expressed by Reagan. In fact, I quoted earlier this week, "We've never been attacked because we were too strong."
We're demonstrating strength here. I - don't think doing this is going to cause people to back - come back as - [unintelligible] - in fact - if - as I asked yesterday, if Kim Jong-Il is watching this, I don't think this makes him think he's going to have an easy time of coming after us. I - think - just the opposite. I don't - cause I don't think Kim Jong-Il wants - a - piece of this. I don't think Kim Jong-Il wants his own version of shock and awe. In - Pyongyang.
And - it's inter - we haven't a little - we haven't heard a peep out of this guy, since, uh, since all this started. Roger, what - what is it - what are the cops - what are they doing out in San Francisco about all these protests? Are they just letting them happen? Or are they trying to shut them down because they are so disruptive?
Roger: Well, the police, from what I see, they're trying to keep them off the interstate. And, uh, they're doing the best, from what I can see on the news, and from what I see on my deliveries, cause I do all my deliveries myself. Uh - they're doing the best job that they can. But there's overwhelming numbers. That's the problem.
Rush: Well -
Roger: And, um -
Rush: How much energy do these protesters have? How long's this going to go on do you think?
Roger: Oh, God. Rush, I'd say - uh - I hope not long. Because you know what? They don't understand this. First of all - I - the - people visiting San Francisco, the businesses off - my business is booming. I can't even keep up with the demand. I have such a good business. Thank god.
Rush: How can that be, when this economy is so stagnant?
Roger: Well, you know what? I'm not questioning it. Uh - I'm - not - gonna tell you the products that I sell. But I have a tremendous product. I go up to Sacramento, Stockton -
Rush: Good for you! Well - I'm - Roger, it's great to hear that you're prospering. And it's great to hear that you - sound happy. I mean, I have to confess, when - you - first called me, you - were - he was a pilot. You were a pilot for Eastern. Is that right?
Roger: I'm a flight attendant.
Rush: Yeah, okay, flight attendant. But you - were livid. [gibberish] - whatever Eastern had done, you were livid, and your anger and rage were palpable. And you sound, you sound a little bit calmer than I've experienced you being here. It's great to hear. I'm - I - sounds like you're happy. And I hope that you - hope that you are. If - the protesters are the only source of angst that you have out there, then that's fine.
Cause this, it will eventually end, and - get back to normal. As best normal is there. And I think you - your perseverance - will triumph. it's great to hear from you. Thanks so much for calling. And do stay in touch. We have to take a quick time out, my friends, as the EIB network, and open line Friday, roll on.
[promo for El ChupaCabra]
[Rush voices for Select Comfort beds]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:15:00. [28: Kim] [edit]
[ad: Z-Max fuel additive]
[ad: Stresstabs]
[news break]
[ad: Lippizaner Stallions World Tour at a local arena]
[station id]
Rush: And a military update- U.S. and British troops moved swiftly today to secure Iraq's vital oil facilities and snuff out oil field fires, on day two of the war that Washington says is not about taking over the country's vast petroleum wealth.
That's how Reuter's opens the story about how we have secured the, uh- the oil fields in the south- actually, Kirkuk to the north as well. Um, and Rumalia in the south, to protect Iraq's resources from sabotage by Baghdad.
Colonel Steve Cox, commander of the landing force said, "Our targets were successfully captured,"
"U.S. Marines are moving well into the Rumaila oilfields and it seems like we will be able to seize much of the oil structure intact,"
Now, this is a classic example of media provaca- provocation and just pure, simple bias.
"U.S. and British troops moved swiftly on Friday to secure Iraq's vital oil facilities and snuff out oilfield fires on day two of a war Washington says is not about taking over the country's vast petroleum wealth."
Why- why throw that in? I mean, the administration's being clear as a bell- the way they view the oil. It's a resource for the Iraqi people. At any rate, uh- we continue now to move- oh, one other little thing here. This- this is, um- somewhat interesting. The Democratic National Committee is asking party members to defend Tom Daschle and his criticism of the way President Bush has handled the Iraq crisis, as the U.S. led forces invade the country.
In the hours before and after the President's order Wednesday night- to begin the war to topple Hussein's regime- the Democratic National Committee sent e-mails to it's grassroots (pronounced grass-ruts) activists that said Democratic leaders are standing up to Bush. Make sure you stand up for them. The Republicans will....
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:20:00. [29: Immaadd2] [edit]
Rush: but nothing to get political advantage from this military conflict sent an email from the DNC yesterday. Ohh! Folks, I love this, these people are literally paranoid. The Administration - what do you mean? The -- there is not a political calculation in this. If there was a political calculation being made in this war they wouldn't have done it.
There, this is -- this is just typical of the democrats and to sit there and say that Bush is preparing a political calculation, or a political -- to reap a political windfall after this is over, let me tell you the truth about this. The truth is that the democrats have set themselves up to reap a political windfall if it fails. They have set themselves up to; uhh reap a political windfall, the next time terrorism shows its face on this countries soil.
They have set themselves up to reap a political windfall if the economy remains stagnant, or gets worse. That's what they've done. If this war goes well, the -- the - the administration ought to benefit from it, politically or otherwise, for having the courage to do it, and the success to bring it off, as successfully as uhh, er, the planning to bring it off as successfully as it will be and has been. The democrats have position themselves, here, one of the, oddest ways that I've ever seen a political party behave. (Thud on desk). I can't understand it. Uhh, it -- it -- it is, well other than to say, their political positioning is motivated by such hatred for Bush.
That they have literally have position themselves where they only benefit if the worst for this country happens. They are in no position to benefit if things go well. They could just as easily have supported the President and shared in the credit and reap some benefit for being patriots. But, no they chose not to do that. The only way they benefit is if things go to hell in a hand basket, and they've done that on purpose.
And now that Daschle's opened his mouth and made an absolute fool of himself, and demonstrated he doesn't have the temperament any longer for leadership in the party. They're now asking party members to support Daschle, as he attacks Bush. "Democratic leaders are standing up to Bush, make sure you stand up and" -- they're not standing up to Bush. That's not the way to characterize what Daschle and Pete Stark are doing. Their sabotaging Bush. They're attempting to hurt Bush. They're sabotaging him politically. They're not standing up to him.(tapping noise) Not even the Iraqi's are standing up to Bush. Trying to portray these guys as some kind of, courage, behaving some kind of courage here. Because they're standing up to Bush. Well, these people are more wiped out than I thought, I mean, really. (Three taps) This is -- this is amazing to behold this. Let's go back to the phones, Randall, New Jersey. Hello Art, welcome, nice to have you with us sir.
Art: Ahh, hello Rush, thank you, uhm, listen it -- it occurred to me that the a -- the -- the "Shock and Awe" resides now in the collective heart of the left. Uhh, (chuckle), I think they can't believe what they're seeing, it's -- it's a kind of future shock they, uhh, this is increasing dissidence between the -- the uhh, the rhetoric and the of the protesters and that'll do it, and the cherished belief of the liberal politicians, and what they actually see unfolding before their eyes. Uhh, the - the restraint of the soldiers, this masterful, uhh, professional, uhh, action being -- being, uhh, un -- that - that's taking place in Iraq right now, uhh, the quite curve to the president, it just doesn't -- they can't get it. It doesn't compute, uhh...
Rush: Well said, I couldn't say it any better. They are the ones that are suffering shock and awe. None of what they hoped for or predicted is happening. Just the opposite, thanks Art, well said...
[Ad: Fibercon]
[News Radio WGST 640 News]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:25:00. [30: Immaadd2] [edit]
[ABC News]
[WGST News Radio 640]
[Ad: EGP Office Supplies]
[Ad: 94.9 Lite FM]
[News Radio WGST640]
Rush: Humm, what happened to the Ari Fleischer press conference? Is the uhh, Ohh, uh, I see, well we're gonna gyp the Ari Fleischer press conference, but looks like a new wave of " Shock and Awe" is under way, in uhh, in Baghdad. Something that uhh, that I heard here, during the commercial time out, but about this ABC poll it's just been released -- 72% of the American people support the war now, seventy -- seventy-two percent, that's a solid number, it's, I mean it should give you great comfort in the face of all these, (tap on desk) so called, anti-war protest and so forth. Dow Jones industrial Average is uhh, up around one hundred thirty-five, one hundred forty marks today. Oil price continues to come down, "again" today, ladies and gentlemen. Every thing we told you that was going to happen economically is indeed happening.
We were, right again. Something I heard during the break here at the bottom of the hour, is that most of our, military bombardment taking place on the uhm, western side of Baghdad, which is not the residential side.
Okay, Ari Fleischer back with the press briefing, Questions are being asked, let's listen to a little bit of this...
Reporters question: television on, he's not watching what - what's going on?
Ari Fleischer: Uhm, the President again, uhh, understands...
Friday, March 21, 2003 part six
02:30:00. [31: Immaadd2] [edit]
Mr. Fleischer: ... the implications of the actions that he has launched to secure the disarmament of the Iraqi regime to liberate the people. Campbell?
Campbell: Right, right, right. The question, though, is he watching TV, or not?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President may occasionally turn on the TV, but that's not how he gets his news or his information.
Campbell: I'm not suggesting it is; but we just want to try to get an image of --
MR. FLEISCHER: From time to time, he might.
Campbell: Can I ask on a different subject? There was, a humanitarian crisis in Iraq even before the bombing began, in terms of food shortages. After what we saw today, this massive attack on Baghdad, that situation is clearly going to be much, much worse beginning tomorrow. Uhm, what, specifically, is the administration planning to do when the sun comes up?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one, that's not necessarily true. The destruction of a palace of Saddam Hussein's, the destruction of a military facility may not have anything to do with the feeding of the Iraqi people. In all cases, the United States is leading the effort, and uh, along with the military come massive waves of humanitarian relief in the form of food, in the form of medicine, in the form of everything that may be necessary to help protect and to feed the Iraqi people.
Uh, we will see if any of that is, indeed, necessary to the degree that has been anticipated and planned for. But you should not necessarily leap to that conclusion based on what you saw on TV today.
Campbell: Just one final question. President Chirac, of France, said today that he would not support a U.N. resolution that would give the U.S. and Britain the authority to administrate in Iraq. What's your reaction?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as was said at the statement in the Azores, we will, uh, continue to work with the United Nations. The President does believe the United Nations has a role, in the future of Iraq and the reconstruction of Iraq. The President would hope that nobody would stand in the way of the humanitarian reconstruction of Iraq. Mark?
Mark: Ari, Secretary Rumsfeld made mention of the surrender discussions that are going on. Uhm, and he also made mention of third parties being involved. Is there anything you can tell us about that in terms -- you know, what level they're going on?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think Secretary Rumsfeld addressed it. I -I think you heard him say that much of this is the unit-to-unit type of communication. Uhm, the President made his message clear in a way that was unequivocal. He gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave the country, to avoid military conflict. The President wishes Saddam Hussein had left the country, so that this would not have come to pass. Saddam Hussein made his choice.
Mark: Speaking of Saddam Hussein, can we just go over the tape one more time, and just give us your best read on what -- what the tape tells us and what it does not tell us, and what you know and can tell us about Saddam Hussein's fate?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yeah. The tape has been analyzed by the Central Intelligence Agency. And their analysis has led them to believe that the tape is, indeed, the voice of Saddam Hussein, but no conclusions have been reached about whether it was canned ahead of time or not. There is insufficient information for anybody to draw a conclusion about that.
Mark: The larger question, does that tell us anything about where he is, how much control he's got?
MR. FLEISCHER: Uhh, no. The fact that Iraq released a tape doesn't tell anybody anything about where Saddam Hussein is or is not.
Mark: Okay, can I ask uhh, one additional question about Camp David this weekend? The President is going to be spending the weekend there. Uhm, can you describe what, what his plans are for the weekend? Will he be able to, you know, keep in touch?
MR. FLEISCHER: Uhh, there will be a meeting (Rush talking over Mr. Fleischer) of the National Security Council tomorrow morning
Rush: Ohh! Come on. I can't believe it...
Mr. Fleischer: The principals -- the Vice President, Secretary Powell, Secretary Rumsfeld,
Rush: (talking over Ari again)Will he be able to stay in touch?
Mr., Fleischer: Director Tenet and others, of course, Dr. Rice -- will be joining the President at Camp David
Rush: (talking over ari once more)Did he really ask that?
Mr. Fleischer: for participation in the NSC meeting. Camp David,
Rush: (and talking over him again)He really ask that?
Mr. Fleischer: as you can imagine, has every modern communication. It's a Marine facility. It has everything that anybody needs.
Mark: Let me first follow on Campbell's question. The resolution that --
MR. FLEISCHER: I thought you were going to ask about watching TV.
Mark: I may. The resolution that the uh, U.S. would propose in the U.N. would do what? Would turn over the administration of Iraq's oil monies to the U.N., or to the U.S( Rush interupting Press conference)
Rush: I -- look, I'm sorry here folks, I - I've had enough of this, this is ehh, uhh, I mean even if he answers these questions we're gonna learn nothing. (Mocking the reporter) "Will the President be able to stay in touch at Camp David? I know he's (unintelligible)" What do you think he is? Bill Clinton having an intern up there, and not being around with the nuclear codes when it's time to launch some tomahawks. What do they think this is? We aught to be able to stay in touch at Camp David. (Tapping on desk several times). And that was Campbell Brown earlier on that
Ari Fleischer said, "No he's getting his information from the front not from TV, Campbell." Uhh, if you'd wondered why we don't carry a lot of these press briefings, my friends, this is why. Is our incessant ques -- course Ari's job here is not to tell em anything, and his job is not very hard, they don't ask anything even if he answered this stuff. (Thud on desk) there wouldn't be much to it, so we go back to the phones.
Guess who we got back, folks? Those of you who visit the web site will be happy to hear from Kaffir in San Francisco. This is the guy who went out amidst the protesters the first time, with signs that "mocked them", and they weren't even aware of it. We posted some of his picture on our website, and he's back. Hello Kaffir, and how are things?
Kaffir: Ahh, great Rush. Uhh, yeah so we uhh, we did it again, da, this past weekend, uhh and this time I had about uhh, thirty people to - uhh, total who joined, uhh, joined our uhh, anti -- pro - our -- our counter protest and...
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:35:00. [32: Tom] [edit]
Kaffir: -about twenty four signs this time. And they were all printed on three feet by four feet placards. And professionally printed. Uh - you know, we came up with eighteen new slogans. And it was amazing what happened. Uh - should I give you some of the new slogans that we had?
Rush: Oh, yeah - gimme some slogans and tell me what happened.
Kaffir: Okay. You know, we had the original ones. Like "Except for ending Slavery, Fascism,Nazism, Communism - war has never solved anything." And then we had the other three. And we had illustrations to go along with them.
Rush: Right.
Kaffir: And some of the new ones we had said, for instance, in big letters, "End Racism and Sexism Now" - and then underneath that, in small letters, "Kill all White Males"
[Rush chortles]
Kaffir: And we had one. Uh - it said "Say No To War" - "Unless A Democrat Is President" - in small letters. And then a really good one was - it was a picture of a Palestinian woman with a T-shirt kind of - just - over - her - head. On her burqua. And then the T-shirt, it said, "My son suicide bombed a bus full of Israelis, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." And underneath that, it said "and $25,000 from Saddam".
[Rush chuckles]
Kaffir: We had one. You see, we had one addressing every movement that [unintelligible]representatives were there. For instance, you know - there's big - big time Green movement that they have all their placards. So we had one that said, "Stop the vicious spread of wealth creation - vote Green, and let's all be poor and miserable equally."
Rush: [laughs] What kind of reaction did you get this time from these people? Did they even notice?
Kaffir: Oh my god. We - I - assume that, as soon as we integrated into the crowd - at least to me - some - as soon as a lady saw my sign, she grabbed her kids, and she said "Get away from my kids.", and, like, ran off.
[Rush snickers]
Kaffir: And then, ever since then, people were kinda screaming at us. And at one point during the rally area - we were, we were - we kinda - staked ground. Uh -
[Rush yips]
Kaffir: Uh, it's all grass over there. And, we got - we kinda got into a - we stood in the middle of the rally. And all of a sudden a bunch of pro-Palestinian supporters and Palestinians surrounded us. Uh, and they started - you know, they began yelling at us, and one of them came up to me. And I had the sign with the Palestinian woman with the T-shirt.
Rush: Yeah.
Kaffir: And he said, you know, he goes, "I find that offensive." And he starts screaming and that. I go, "You know what? It's supposed to be offensive. You should be on the defense with this."
[Rush guffaws]
Kaffir: And then, then, yeah. I always getting into debate. This one girl starts screaming at me - at one point, I found myself surrounded, completely surrounded, um - and - this girl was just foaming at the mouth, calling me a rapist -
[Rush laughs]
Kaffir: Fascist, so - uh - but that's pretty much the environment. But no one -
Rush voice over, still laughing: A Fascist!
Kaffir: You know international ANSWER? The guys, uh, running the show there. Uh, they came up to me a few times. Cause, all - you know, they knew all the - for leading the counter-protest. And they - uh - three different times, they tried to, tried to kick me out. At one time they said that they had the backing of the police. That - uh - they can get the police to come kick me in. And I said "You know what? I already - I've already spoken with the police. I know they're pretty much on my side. If you can get them to come over here and kick me out, I'll leave." And they never came back.
[Rush laughs]
Kaffir: And another time, they tried to rope us off. They - all of a sudden, I - see these ANSWER guys - they're wearing their little bright yellow vests.
[Rush snickers]
Kaffir: And they're putting a rope barrier around all of us and cordoning us off from the rest of the -
Rush voice over, still laughing: So much for free speech, huh!
Kaffir: Exactly! So, it was funny - they were tightening the ropes to make our area smaller. And I told the guy, like, "What the hell do you think that you're doing?". So all of a sudden, this reporter, who I was talking to before from the L.A. Times, came up to me. And I told him, "Hey, look at this. They're trying to block us off. And - then this reporter was like, "Oh really?" And he starts asking me questions. What's going on? The ANSWER guys see this. And then they cut the rope. And they - "no, no, no. We didn't mean to do - you know, we're just doing this for safety. And - they - that's the kind if things that were going on over there.
Rush: Well, did - you - find any sympathy from these reporters, or even humor, or - did they get it?
Kaffir: Oh, yeah. The reporters were very - they were very nice. And, you know, they were asking me interesting questions. It's just the - organizers. They were just going crazy. Cause we were making a big stink. I mean, we had - if you could imagine twenty-three - I think it was twenty-three signs, each one averaged about three feet wide by four feet tall -
Rush: [chuckles over Kaffir talking] I'm lovin' it!
Kaffir: Plastered all over the protest.
Rush: I'm lovin' this! I'm - just - envisioning this here. And I can just see these little nattering nabobs going nuts! Because you're confronting them with the asinine stupidity of their own position.
Kaffir: Exactly! Oh - and there was this one great moment. Uh - Martin Sheen was there. And he actually walked by us. And one of our signs, uh, it said - it - has a picture of Martin Sheen, Janeane Garofalo, and Sean Penn, kind of their faces, uh, really, you know, exaggerated, and big. And then it says, "Hollywood activism - now that's entertainment!" And -
[Rush laughs over Kaffir]
Kaffir: And - I call - and he walks by, and I scream at him, I go "Hey, Martin!" And he looks by - and I think he got a glimpse of our - of that sign. And - we got pictures of it, and everything. It was great.
Rush: Well, I tell ya - we'd love to see those pictures, if you still have the webmaster's email address.
Kaffir: Uh - yeah. I got a bunch of them. - And - we're gonna have a video put together that - you know - has Evan Maloney from Brain Terminal. He came down over here. And we kind of teamed up.
Rush: Yup. He's another one of our buddies here.
Kaffir: Exactly! Yeah - we met him through your website. We kind of, you know, we were –
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:40:00. [33: Kim] [edit]
.... we contacted each other, and we decided to, uh- to put our forces together. And he came down here and we shot a whole bunch of footage, we're putting a video together and we're going to have it up online soon and we're editing it right now.
Rush: This is terrific- well, we'll look forward if you can spare 'em. We would love some of these- some of these pictures from this most recent escapade, this is fabulous.
You know, Kaffir- I have to tell you something- I wanna take the occasion of your call here to again explain to people- this is why, this is just another in a long line of reasons- of why what these protestors are doing is not nearly as agitating or irritating to me any longer, is cause people like you are getting out there and you're not- nobody's falling for this.
I mean, you're just confronting them and you're showing them- by virtue of their reaction to your presence- you're illustrating their own hypocrisy and- and the, uh- the true lack of intolerance these people, who claim to be the most tolerant among us, actually have and are.
And I think it's great, I think you need to be applauded- I'm honored that you're out there, I think it's great that you call and tell us about it and- and keep it up, just as long as you're- I know you're having fun, but at any point did you actually feel, uh- threatened, did you feel like your safety was, uh- a matter of concern?
Kafir: Uh yeah, at one point- I'll tell you when- we were- when I was completely surrounded. All this- you know when you're debating someone, you kind of get lost in it, you don't realize what's going on around you. Um, I snapped out of my- you know, I'm debating- all of a sudden I see *inaudible* - I mean, surrounding me.
And- and this girl is screaming at me and I tell her to calm down - and I try to get the situation back, uh- you know, back under control- and then I kind of back off and walk away so I'm not surrounded by them anymore. But other than that...
Rush: That's what you gotta do, yeah...
Kafir: ... you know, I was feeling pretty secure and confident. Um, I knew I had other people there kind of watching out for us. We- we were very organized.
Rush: And, uh- well see, this- that is an example of real courage. I mean, there are a not a whole lot of people who would venture into this crowd- and- and actually provoke them and confront them. But you did it with humor and it's just great. This is how you have to deal with the left, you laugh at them- you just laugh at them right in their face and of course they will erupt.
Well Kafir, it's great. Thanks for the call, I'm glad you were able to find a way to get through here today. You have- you've made our day here. This is just tremendous and folks, again- this is a reason why, this is happening- not all over the place, but- but this is- is just- people, we're no longer sitting around and just- defensively watching and reacting to these people.
We're actually getting back- Kafir and his buddies are getting back in their face- and in the process, illustrating just what there protestors are really all about, I- again. Gratified you called, Kafir- thanks much, and we will continue here in just a moment, folks- don't go away.
[promo for Rush on the EIB network]
[station id]
[ad: Redwood Creek Wines]
[ad: Fox News Channel]
[promo for the morning news show]
[ad: Greater Southern Home Recreation]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:45:00. [34: Kim] [edit]
[ad: Hill Air Charter]
[station id]
Rush: Uh, Kafir and his buddies have their own website with their- with their photos, and I'm not- I'm not going to give the web address right now- cause I don't know what their server capacity is- and it'd probably shut them down for awhile.
We're going to get photos from their latest escapades e-mailed to our webmaster- we'll post those photos up and we'll link, at that point, from our site to Kafir's- so that, uh- you can see the full scope of what they've done. I just went to his website- looked at some of the things.
There's some- some San Franciscan with a sign that said, uh- "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam"- and you know, it does- it does put in perspective what these protestors are really all about. They just- as I said, I've said this again and again- I want to do it one more time. Repetition never hurts in- in matters like this.
So many of these protestors came of age in the Vietnam War era, and in order to validate their youth- in order to make them think it had some purpose, they've gotta continue to protest any war that comes down the pike. Other than when Clinton is in the White House, but that's what this is- is really all about, it's a selfish narcissism in a sense- designed to validate their own pathetic lives.
Their lives are probably worthless, they don't accomplish much- they have no sense of purpose, uh- other than to relive their glory days of the 60's. And, they haven't been able to realize much of- of their dreams from the 60's, so they keep going back in time. It's like, you have a great party some Saturday night, and man, I had so much fun I'm going to try to do it again next Saturday- never comes out the same way as it did the first time, when it all was spontaneous.
They keep trying to have the same thrill that they had back in the 60's, over and over again, and it's, uh- it just isn't working. And this is also again, a good opportunity to remind people that- really what alot of this is, the- the Socialist, Marxist dogma of the era is that the oppressed workers of the world will eventually unite against bosses and demand a Socialist utopian- uh, utopia.
And now, the enemies of America- be they Al Qaeda or Iraq, represent the oppressed workers of Marxist theory. And so you have oppressed nations now- obstensibly mired in poverty, like Al Qaeda- rising up against the great Satan- the United States.
And so these Marxists- still holding out hope that the original Marxian theory of all this social utopiaism (?) will come to pass, is embodied here. And that's one of the reasons that they have invested so much hope- they're just down- dyed in the wool Socialists and Communists, folks- for whatever reason, who knows?
And they're still sitting around, waiting for that great Socialist paradise to manifest itself. But it never will, because it- is a theory that is full of holes and does not work. But they're still- they're just lost in a total fantasy world , they haven't grown up- and that's who they are. And that's why, it's- it's- I wouldn't waste any energy getting all upset about these people.
They're just- they're worth being laughed at more than anything else. And if you feel alot of compassion, maybe you can assign a couple minutes, now and then, to feel sorry for them. But mostly laugh at them, that's about what they're worth. We'll be back and conclude here, in just a moment.
[promo for Rush's show on the EIB network]
[promo for the Kimmer, coming up after Rush's show]
[ad: Ben-Gay Arthritis Relief]
[ad: Black Swan Wines]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:50:00. [35: Kim] [edit]
[ad: Black Swan Wine]
[news break, continuing war coverage]
[promo for News Radio 640]
[ad: Ameridebt]
[promo for News Radio 640]
Rush: Alright, my friends, another excursion into broadcase excellence is now complete and history (again pronounces it hist-waah. I wanna take a moment here to thank all of you who have been, um- watching via the Ditto-cam today and tuning in via our, uh- our subscriber's side of the website, Rush 24/7. We're happy to be able to offer the service, we're happy you're there.
American military is making everybody proud, we are in the process here of taking Baghdad- that may be accomplished over the weekend. We'll all keep a sharp eye on it, as well- as I'm sure all of you will. Have a great weekend, stay proud, and we'll be right back here Monday, to start all over again.
[station id]
[ad: Just Brakes]
[station id]
[news break coming up]
Friday, March 21, 2003. 02:55:00. [36: Kim] [edit]
[news break]
[traffic and weather update]
[news break continues]
[station id]
[ad: Jasper Jeep-Dodge-Chrysler]
[ad: Bell South Fast Access DSL]
| 
