MSNBC Jesse Ventura's America - Transcript

MSNBC

SHOW: JESSE VENTURA'S AMERICA 19:00

BYLINE: Jesse Ventura; Barry McCaffrey

GUESTS: Susan Collins; Neal Puckett

HIGHLIGHT:
Is the situation in Iraq getting worse or better? Then, should Colonel Allen West be court-martialed?

BODY:
JESSE VENTURA, MSNBC ANCHOR: What on earth is going on in Iraq? If you depend on the news media for information, you are left with the feeling that the whole country is still a war zone and there's little hope for getting it under control. If you listen to the Bush administration, things are going along fairly well, the reconstruction of Iraq is on schedule. And a casualty here and there will not deter or impede our efforts.

Confused and befuddled? Me, too. I am. So, what are we supposed to do?

Recently terrorists have shot down two U.S. helicopters, killing 21 American soldiers. Since the combat phase of the war ended, we have lost well over 140 men and women. And it is not getting better, it is getting worse. How can we possibly rebuild the country under these conditions? Well, we can't. And it's about time we faced the fact that we need to do more. That's right, more.

Look, I don't like my tax dollars going to Iraq, but we have to finish the job now. And the way to do that? Well, Edward Luttwak from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in "The New York Times" op-ed piece this week estimates that of the 133,000 troops in Iraq, only 56,000 are combat-trained and of those 28,000 available at one time to maintain control.

Well, that's pathetic. Are we expecting helicopter mechanics to keep order? Iraq is a country of over 24 million people. Luttwak points out that the city of New York, with the population of eight million, has 39,000 trained police officers, and guess what? They speak the language. Information like this just adds to our confusion. Are we in over our heads? Is it about time to send more combat troops? Can we send more combat troops without spreading ourselves too thin in other parts of the world? The people need honest answers. But does anyone know where we can get them?

Welcome to JESSE VENTURA'S AMERICA, where we ask tough questions, we expect honest answers, and we don't allow pandering.

Some of the toughest questions come from our audience. Our audience is made up from people from all walks of life. They're not pundits, they're real people. They're not politicians. They're common ordinary citizens with common sense on their minds.

But before we go to our audience, let's introduce tonight's topic and our first guest. Congress has approved and the president signed the bill authorizing an additional $87 billion for military operations and rebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan. As I said in the show's opening, most Americans, including myself, are confused. When is this going to end? With us tonight to discuss the confusion is Maine Senator Susan Collins.

Senator, you were quoted in the media saying that you voted for this appropriation despite reservations. You went on to say that you thought this appropriation would pave the way for the day when our soldiers would finally come home. Please, Senator, help us out. What's going on in Iraq?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS ®, MAINE: Well, the situation in Iraq has proven to be far more difficult than we had envisioned, and then the administration had planned for. But at this point, the stakes are simply too high for us to fail. We must finish the job, we must bring stability and security to the country, and we must help the Iraqi people transition to a democratic society. It is not going to be easy, but now that we've started, we have to finish the job. And that means providing our troops with all the resources that they need to perform these tasks as efficiently, effectively and safely as possible.

VENTURA: Now, now, Senator, we're getting two stories right now. We're getting some people in the administration telling us the number of troops we have over there is enough. We can get the job done. Now, of course, Senator John McCain being one who has come out and said no, it's not enough. We've got to have more. You know, and I being a former military guy, like the senator, tend to start siding a little bit with the senator because he has been there, done that, in some ways. What's the story? Do we have enough troops there in your opinion? Or-to get the job done? Or are we going to need more?

COLLINS: In my judgment, based on my visit to Iraq in early July, as well as the briefings that I've had as the member of the Armed Services Committee, I believe that we do need more troops. But I'm not convinced that we necessarily need more American troops. We need to help stand up the Iraqi army as quickly as possible. We need to continue our training of Iraqi police force, and we need to continue what so far have been disappointing efforts to attract other countries to send troops to the area. Unfortunately, the deaths and wounding of so many American troops, of course, discourages other nations from sending their young men and women to help in this very important task.

VENTURA: Well, Senator, that's the point. I mean, the president moved ahead without a coalition from the U.N. He made that decision. I can't blame these other countries. They weren't part of it to begin with. And now all of a sudden, we're asking them, come on board. Come and help us. Why should they? What's in it for them?

COLLINS: You're right that it is a difficult job to sell other countries on the idea of sending troops. We do have help from some countries in addition to Great Britain, and I want to acknowledge those efforts. There is-there are, for example, I think, some 3,000 Polish troops in the country.

VENTURA: Right. They just suffered their first casualty.

COLLINS: And that-that is so difficult. And that's one of the things that makes this so hard. But what I think we need to do to try to attract other countries is to get them more of a role in the decision making process. And that's why I've always urged the administration to go back to the U.N. and to work with other countries, even those countries that have not been supportive of us.

VENTURA: Senator, Senator, I've got to ask you a question that's really been burning on my mind. And that is, they've acknowledged that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. None of them came from Iraq. Help me out. Why did we attack Iraq?

COLLINS: We decided to ...

VENTURA: I mean, that's a question that, you know ...

COLLINS: Right.

VENTURA: ... is on all of the minds of average Americans. I mean, if I put that in perspective, it's like Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, so we attack Korea.

COLLINS: It's a valid question to ask. My own decision was made on the basis of intelligence reports that indicated that not only had Saddam Hussein not followed the U.N. resolutions for over a decade, but that he was amassing weapons of mass destruction. The jury is still out on what we're going to find in that area. But certainly, it is of great concern that today, our forces have yet to uncover the stocks that our intelligence said were there.

VENTURA: Senator, we'll keep holding our breath to find out. We want to thank Maine Senator Susan Collins, absolutely, for taking a break. She is voting on things, to come on our show. And Susan, give my best to Governor Angus King, if you will.

COLLINS: I sure will.