Fox News The O'Reilly Factor - Transcript

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SHOW: THE O'REILLY FACTOR (20:50)

September 10, 2004 Friday

HEADLINE: Back of the Book
Snow Discusses 9/11 Third Anniversary

GUESTS: Janice Schakowsky, (D), Illinois Congresswoman

BYLINE: Tony Snow

BODY:
SNOW: In the BACK OF THE BOOK segment tonight, the House resolution marking the third anniversary of 9/11 sparked an intense debate on the floor yesterday. The measure eventually ended up passing overwhelmingly by a vote of 406 to 16, but not before some heated exchanges.

Illinois Congresswoman, Janice Schakowsky, a Democrat, was one of the few dissenters, and she joins us now from Chicago to tell us why she opposed it. Representative, why?

JANICE SCHAKOWSKY, (D), ILLINOIS CONGRESSWOMAN: Well, you know, it was not a tribute to the victims of 9/11, nor to the thousands of soldiers who have died in Iraq. Really, what it was, was a self-congratulatory resolution from the Bush administration to the Bush administration on his conduct of the war on terror.

And I feel this administration has performed inadequately and inappropriately on the war on terror. And quite frankly, Tony, I just was not willing to sign on. I felt that the victims were, once again, being used in this resolution.

SNOW: OK, here's the language. It said, "The United States has led an international military coalition in the destruction of two terrorist regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq." That's true, isn't it?

SCHAKOWSKY: Well, except that we abandoned our efforts in Afghanistan, and the Taliban is back stronger than it had been since the...

SNOW: Whoa...

SCHAKOWSKY: ... yeah, excuse me?

SNOW: I mean, that's what Ayman al-Zawahiri is saying, but there's considerable controversy...

SCHAKOWSKY: No, actually, the Defense Intelligence Agency said in February of 2004 the Taliban attacks reached the highest level since the collapse of the Taliban government.

SNOW: OK, that was seven months ago, and certainly, the Taliban has been fighting back. So you dispute-let me ask you this...

SCHAKOWSKY: No, let me tell you what I dispute.

SNOW: OK.

SCHAKOWSKY: What I say is that the war in Iraq was a diversion from the war on terror, which needed to be conducted and finished in Afghanistan, and something that I supported. I voted against the war in Iraq.

SNOW: OK, let me ask you this. I hear this argument a lot. The United States, in Afghanistan, did exactly what Senator Kerry wants us to do. We have handed over much of the military operation, not all of it, to some of our allies. For instance, Germany is the number one participant among our allies in supplying forces. There's an international force waging it.

It is being done with the support of the United Nations, with the support of NATO. Isn't that exactly what Senator Kerry has been saying ought to be the template for our actions, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world?

SCHAKOWSKY: I think that to deny the fact that the diversion of our resources, our troops, and our focus from Afghanistan to Iraq has, in fact, enabled the Taliban to regroup, enabled al-Qaeda to flourish once again.

SNOW: OK, well, there's a great deal of controversy about both of those. Let me just ask you a quick question, then I want to get back to the September 11th thing.

SCHAKOWSKY: OK.

SNOW: Do you think, because it has been a military doctrine in this country for many years, as you know, that we ought to be able to fight wars simultaneously, so we could fight a war in Iraq and could continue fighting in Afghanistan? Why is that not possible? Has that changed? It was the centerpiece of Bill Clinton's military doctrine.

SCHAKOWSKY: Well, the promise is that it's worthwhile to be in Iraq. And I feel that this administration sent our troops to Iraq in an unnecessary war based on false information, without body armor. I think it was an inexcusable war.

SNOW: Wait. That's not true. I mean, you know some people did not have the most up to date body armor. But let me just ask you, what would you prefer as the kind of commemoration for September 11th, because, you know, I think we ought to do something to commemorate it? So what would you say?

SCHAKOWSKY: Well, we actually did have a moment of silence that was very moving on the floor of the House. I just left a high school where I led the students in a moment of silence and a discussion about 9/11 and the loss of life. A resolution that simply honored the people that have died there and that are dying in Iraq-because we do pay respect to our troops-would have been appropriate.

But this was a seven-page litany, 24, whereas (ph), only one dealing with the victims of 9/11.

SNOW: All right, Janice Schakowsky, thanks for joining us.

SCHAKOWSKY: Thank you.

SNOW: Coming up, are politically correct policies putting Americans at risk in the skies? A new book says we're flying blind, and the author will be here next.