http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030412&slug=loot12
The Seattle Times
Saturday, April 12, 2003
U.S. military puts troops on patrol as Rumsfeld downplays 'untidiness'
By Seattle Times news services
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Anarchy swept Baghdad, Kirkuk and Mosul yesterday as vanquished battalions of Iraqi soldiers streamed home, replaced by fearless battalions of Iraqi looters who ransacked, dismantled and torched banks, government ministries and other establishments.
With turbulence convulsing those cities, U.S. military commanders turned their attention to Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, but even that city seemed ready to fall. Marine officers said reconnaissance flights spotted looters there — but no masses of troops loyal to a regime that the United States declared dead yesterday.
Some U.S. war planners expected a fierce battle there, but others thought intense airstrikes on Iraqi positions earlier this week cracked any remaining will to fight.
"It doesn't seem there's a last stand left," said Marine Lt. Col. Dave Pere.
U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, the allied commander, told unit leaders yesterday:
"The Saddam regime has ended, ... and we will stay until there is a free government,"
He and others said U.S. combat forces would attempt to suppress looting but would not evolve into police forces, though the Geneva Conventions require an occupying power to provide for the population's safety and health.
Franks asked Iraqi police officers, civil servants, doctors, nurses and other essential workers to return to their jobs, though it was unclear who would pay them.
Military commanders and the Bush administration said they expected the civil disorder to burn itself out soon.
"This is a transition period between war and what we hope will be a much more peaceful time," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon.
In Washington, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the news media were exaggerating reports of looting and other crime with "Henny Penny the sky is falling" journalism. Describing the scenes of disorder as an "untidiness" that regularly occurs when people are suddenly freed, he predicted it would not last long.
There was plenty of untidiness yesterday:
In Kirkuk, Iraqis plundered supermarkets, burned government offices, balanced chandeliers on their shoulders and stripped a Pepsi plant of soda and a natural-gas plant of valves and wires.
In Mosul, which fell to Kurdish and U.S. forces yesterday, Iraqis hijacked city buses and garbage trucks, purloined books from a museum, took tons of rice from a U.N. warehouse, hugged stacks of Iraqi currency stolen from banks and dug up plants from one of Saddam's palaces.
In Baghdad, Iraqis liberated computers, refrigerators and tennis rackets from the Rashid Hotel, set fire to the Ministry of Planning and a bank, and rolled beds and operating-room equipment away from hospitals.
Despite downplaying the seriousness of the unrest, the administration showed its concern by making a shift in its approach.
After insisting for days that policing should be handled by Iraqis, U.S. officials said their troops would now mount limited patrols of streets, guard some buildings and even make some arrests.
At the same time, in a sign of his concern about going too far, Franks issued rules forbidding U.S. troops from using deadly force to prevent looting.
U.S. officials plan to assign more troops to help restore order as reinforcements arrive in Central and Northern Iraq. And they are accelerating efforts to help the Iraqis form new police forces, beginning with the expected arrival of 26 law-enforcement experts from the United States.
Still, there is growing anger at the coalition forces.
"They must either give us Saddam back, or do something about the outrage in the streets," said Rafi Najih, 26, a Baghdad merchant who defended the store with a Kalashnikov on his lap.
"Look what they did to me. This is the first time I took a weapon in my hands in the entire war."
In the days since Saddam lost his grip on power, the Iraqi capital dropped increasingly into chaos and bursts of violence.
After two days of almost cheery looting, yesterday saw Baghdad slide into an unsettling mix of oddly festive crime spree and sinister unrest, as shootings, arson and vigilante justice flared across the capital.
Increasingly, gunfire crackled as defenders of property fired at looters, looters fired at the defenders and looters fired at fellow looters over the spoils.
Near a presidential palace in the Mansour district yesterday, a angry man in a black robe started shooting a handgun at looters. They turned and drove away quickly.
The man screamed after them at the top of his lungs: "You sons of dogs! You are a shame for the nation. I will kill everybody who has something in his hands."
But elsewhere, looters were going at it with a kind of joie de vivre — cheerfully carting off virtually everything as if they had won the lottery.
The stealing was watched but not checked by U.S. forces. "We should discourage looting, but we're not going to stand between a crowd and a bunch of mattresses," Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, told his senior officers.
In another part of the city, Marines who were making the difficult shift from warrior to peacekeeper said they had their work cut out for them.
Marine 1st Lt. Frank Dillbeck, of Twentynine Palms, Calif., is the commander of a unit that yesterday began its new mission, to guard the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A few short days ago, Dillbeck said, if he had seen an Iraqi carrying a weapon, he wouldn't have hesitated to shoot to kill. But if he did that now, he said, he might be shooting someone trying to defend their property.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/us/politics/prospect-of-hillary-clinton-marco-rubio-matchup-unnerves-democrats.html
The New York Times
Prospect of Hillary Clinton-Marco Rubio Matchup Unnerves Democrats
By JEREMY W. PETERS MAY 22, 2015
WASHINGTON — They use words like “historic” and “charismatic,” phrases like “great potential” and “million-dollar smile.” They notice audience members moved to tears by an American-dream-come-true success story. When they look at the cold, hard political math, they get uneasy.
An incipient sense of anxiety is tugging at some Democrats — a feeling tersely captured in four words from a blog post written recently by a seasoned party strategist in Florida: “Marco Rubio scares me.”
What is so unnerving to them at this early phase of the 2016 presidential campaign still seems, at worst, a distant danger: the prospect of a head-to-head general-election contest between Mr. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Yet the worriers include some on Mrs. Clinton’s team. And even former President Bill Clinton is said to worry that Mr. Rubio could become the Republican nominee, whittle away at Mrs. Clinton’s support from Hispanics and jeopardize her chances of carrying Florida’s vital 29 electoral votes.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000595
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
RUBIO, Marco, (1971 - )
Senate Years of Service: 2011-
Party: Republican
RUBIO, Marco, a Senator from Florida; born in Miami, Fla., May 28, 1971; graduated University of Florida, B.S., 1993; graduated University of Miami, J.D., 1996; lawyer; West Miami City Commission 1998-2000; member of the Florida house of representatives 2000-2008; majority leader 2003-2006; speaker 2006-2008; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate for the term ending January 3, 2017.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001559/bio
IMDb
Audie Murphy
Biography
Date of Birth 20 June 1924, Kingston, Texas, USA
Date of Death 28 May 1971, near Roanoke, Virginia, USA (plane crash)
Birth Name Audie Leon Murphy
Audie Murphy became a national hero during World War II as the most decorated combat soldier of the war. Among his 33 awards was the Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that a soldier can receive. In addition, he was also decorated for bravery by the governments of France and Belgium, and was credited with killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing many more.
Cagney Productions paid for acting and dancing lessons but was reluctantly forced to admit that Murphy--at least at that point in his career--didn't have what it took to become a movie star.
he made a total of 44 films
His postwar life wasn't all roses, however. He suffered from what is now called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but was then called "combat fatigue", and was known to have a hair-trigger temper. He woke up screaming at night and slept with a loaded M1911 .45 semi-automatic pistol nearby. He was acquitted of attempted murder charges brought about by injuries he inflicted on a man in a bar fight. Director Don Siegel said in an interview that Murphy often carried a pistol on the set of The Gun Runners (1958) and many of the cast and crew were afraid of him.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2009-05-05/news/0905050176_1_charlie-crist-rubio-senate
SunSentinel
Rubio Vs. Crist In U.s. Senate Primary?
May 5, 2009 Posted by Josh Hafenbrack on May 5, 2009 10:57 AM
Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, announces his U.S. Senate candidacy -- which could include a possible primary against Gov. Charlie Crist.
From 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 also known as Matthew Kline for official duty and also known as Wayne Newman for official duty ) To 5/5/2009 is 6683 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 2/19/1984 ( the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics closing ceremony ) is 6683 days
From 1/17/1991 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) To 5/5/2009 is 6683 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 2/19/1984 ( the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics closing ceremony ) is 6683 days
From 5/14/1992 ( as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps chief warrant officer circa 1992 and United States chief test pilot I performed the first flight of the US Army and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow ) To 5/5/2009 is 6200 days
6200 = 3100 + 3100
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/29/1974 ( Richard Nixon - Address to the Nation Announcing Answer to the House Judiciary Committee Subpoena for Additional Presidential Tape Recordings ) is 3100 days
From 6/30/1908 ( The Tunguska Event in Russian Siberia ) To 7/4/1995 ( the undocking Mir space station docking and the United States space shuttle Atlantis orbiter vehicle mission STS-71 includes my biological brother United States Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan the spacecraft and mission commander and me Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps officer and United States STS-71 pilot astronaut ) is 31780 days
31780 = 15890 + 15890
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/5/2009 is 15890 days
From 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record ) To 5/5/2009 is 5250 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/18/1980 ( the Soviet Union Vostok rocket explosion at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Russia ) is 5250 days
From 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record ) To 5/5/2009 is 5250 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/18/1980 ( Jimmy Carter - Refugee Act of 1980 Statement on Signing S. 643 Into Law ) is 5250 days
From 3/4/1933 ( Franklin Roosevelt - Inaugural Address ) To 9/4/1976 ( the unpublished true birthdate of Destiny's Child singer Beyonce Knowles ) is 15890 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/5/2009 is 15890 days
From 3/4/1933 ( Franklin Roosevelt - Inaugural Address ) To 9/4/1976 ( George Walker Bush the purveyor of illegal drugs strictly for his personal profit including the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into the United States arrested again by police in the United States ) is 15890 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/5/2009 is 15890 days
From 5/30/1940 ( premiere US film "The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady" ) To 12/1/1983 ( premiere US film "Scarface" ) is 15890 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/5/2009 is 15890 days
From 12/1/1983 ( premiere US film "Scarface" ) To 5/5/2009 is 9287 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/7/1991 ( premiere US TV series pilot "Top of the Heap" ) is 9287 days
From 12/25/1971 ( George Walker Bush the purveyor of illegal drugs strictly for his personal profit including the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into the United States confined to federal prison in Mexico for illegally smuggling narcotics in Mexico ) To 5/5/2009 is 13646 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/14/2003 ( premiere US film "Willard" ) is 13646 days
From 12/25/1971 ( George Walker Bush the purveyor of illegal drugs strictly for his personal profit including the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into the United States confined to federal prison in Mexico for illegally smuggling narcotics in Mexico ) To 5/5/2009 is 13646 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/14/2003 ( George W. Bush - Remarks on the Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East ) is 13646 days
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2009-05-06/news/0905050446_1_crist-senate-rubio-filibuster-proof-majority
SunSentinel
Rubio Announces Run For U.s. Senate
May 6, 2009 By Beth Reinhard The Miami Herald
Three months after starting to raise money for a U.S. Senate race, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio on Tuesday confirmed the obvious: He's a candidate.
Rubio's announcement made good on his promise not to be cowed by a potential rivalry with Gov. Charlie Crist, the most popular politician in Florida. Crist is expected to announce his political plans after Friday's final vote on the state budget.
"I don't think the odds are that long," Rubio said of his prospects against a potential Crist Senate run. "Races of this magnitude are decided by who presents a clearer picture of the future, and I intend to do that."
At a time when the Republican Party is struggling to reinvent itself, Rubio is seeking to portray himself as a more conservative alternative to the governor. Crist has drawn scorn from some Republicans for supporting President Barack Obama's spending plan, though polls show most voters support it.
"The more Republicans become less distinguishable from Democrats, the less people will vote forRepublicans," Rubio said. "I don't agree with the notion that to grow our party we need to become more like Democrats."
With the Democratic Party poised to lock down a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Florida's contest is expected to be one of the most closely watched races in the nation in 2010.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/1984_Winter_Olympics_Sarajevo_Sports_Complex_1995-06-09_1.JPEG
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1984_Winter_Olympics_Sarajevo_Sports_Complex_1995-06-09_1.JPEG
File:1984 Winter Olympics Sarajevo Sports Complex 1995-06-09 1.JPEG
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Description A graveyard has been established in what was once part of the Olympic Sports Complex in Sarajevo for the 1984 Winter Olympics.
http://www.olympic.org/sarajevo-1984-winter-olympics
Olympic.org
Official website of the Olympic Movement
SARAJEVO 1984
8th February - 19th February
http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=olympics&advanced=1&p=47&item=B:00854
THE PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA
OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, THE XIV {1984 SARAJEVO OLYMPICS} {1984/02/19}, PART 8 (TV)
SUMMARY
This program presents a portion of coverage of the 1984 XIV Olympic Winter Games from Sarajevo. Highlights of this portion include coverage of the following events and topics:
Anchor sports commentator Jim McKay resides throughout this portion and introduces various events and highlights.
Sports commentator Dick Button previews women's individual figure skating and profiles Rosalynn Sumners (USA) and Katarina Witt (Germany). Sumners is interviewed about her upcoming competition, as she fights to move from second place to first.
Sports commentators Keith Jackson and Eric Heiden cover men's 1500 meter speed skating; Gaétan Boucher (Canada) wins the gold medal with a time of 1:58.36; Sergey Khlebnikov (Soviet Union) takes the silver medal with a time of 1:58.83; Oleg Bozhyev (Soviet Union) takes the bronze medal with a time of 1:58.89.
Jackson interviews Boucher after winning the gold medal.
Sports commentator Ray Gandolf profiles Olympic merchandise sales in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Sports commentators Tim Brant and John Morgan cover four-man men's bobsleigh: East Germany wins the gold medal with a time of 3:20.22; East Germany wins the silver medal with a time of 3:26.04; Switzerland takes the bronze medal with a time of 3:26.16.
Sports commentator Jack Whitaker interviews bobsledder Ekkehard Fasser (Switzerland).
McKay interviews 1960 gold medal-winning figure skater Carol Heiss Jenkins, who speculates on the upcoming ladies' figure skating competition between Witt (USA) and Sumner (USA).
Sports commentators Don Chevrier and Mike Eruzione cover men's ice hockey as USA beats Poland 7-4.
Notable commercials and/or promos include O.J. Simpson and Arnold Palmer for Hertz.
DETAILS
NETWORK: ABC
DATE: February 19, 1984 08:30 PM
http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1984/
SR/OLYMPIC SPORTS
1984 Sarajevo Winter Games
Host City: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (February 7, 1984 to February 19, 1984)
Opening Ceremony: February 8, 1984 (opened by President Mika Spiljak)
Closing Ceremony: February 19, 1984
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: 05/05/09 3:41 AM
I was just thinking the other day that the vortex storm in the 1980 film "The Final Countdown" was inspired and created by me from something I viewed as I was traveling through the atmosphere of the planet Venus for my first landing on 1/18/1974.
[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 05 May 2009 excerpt ends]
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: May 05, 2009
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: 05/05/09 1:46 AM
From 2/25/2001 ( date hijacked from me:premiere US TV episode "The Simpsons"::"New Kids on the Blecch" ) To 10/18/2004 ( Racketeering Mob Organization and International Terrorist Organization Microsoft-Corbis & International War Criminal and cowardly violent criminal George Bush a.k.a. "Monkey Face" actively instigate insurrection and subversive activity against the U.S. federal government ) is 1331 days
From 3/3/1959 ( date hijacked from me:my birth date US ) To 10/24/1962 ( premiere US film "The Manchurian Candidate" ) is 1331 days
[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 05 May 2009 excerpt ends]
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4189
The American Presidency Project
Richard Nixon
XXXVII President of the United States: 1969 - 1974
122 - Address to the Nation Announcing Answer to the House Judiciary Committee Subpoena for Additional Presidential Tape Recordings.
April 29, 1974
Good evening:
I have asked for this time tonight in order to announce my answer to the House Judiciary Committee's subpoena for additional Watergate tapes, and to tell you something about the actions I shall be taking tomorrow--about what I hope they will mean to you and about the very difficult choices that were presented to me.
These actions will at last, once and for all, show that what I knew and what I did with regard to the Watergate break-in and coverup were just as I have described them to you from the very beginning.
I have spent many hours during the past few weeks thinking about what I would say to the American people if I were to reach the decision I shall announce tonight. And so, my words have not been lightly chosen; I can assure you they are deeply felt.
It was almost e years ago, in June 1972 that five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington. It turned out that they were connected with my reelection committee, and the Watergate break-in became a major issue in the campaign.
The full resources of the FBI and the Justice Department were used to investigate the incident thoroughly. I instructed my staff and campaign aides to cooperate fully with the investigation. The FBI conducted nearly 1,500 interviews. For 9 months--until March 1973--I was assured by those charged with conducting and monitoring the investigations that no one in the White House was involved.
Nevertheless, for more than a year, there have been allegations and insinuations that I knew about the planning of the Watergate break-in and that I was involved in an extensive plot to cover it up. The House Judiciary Committee is now investigating these charges.
On March 6, I ordered all materials that I had previously furnished to the Special Prosecutor turned over to the committee. These included tape recordings of 19 Presidential conversations and more than 700 documents from private White House files.
On April 11, the Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena for 42 additional tapes of conversations which it contended were necessary for its investigation. I agreed to respond to that subpoena by tomorrow.
In these folders that you see over here on my left are more than 1,200 pages of transcripts of private conversations I participated in between September 15, 1972, and April 27 of 1973 with my principal aides and associates with regard to Watergate. They include all the relevant portions of all of the subpoenaed conversations that were recorded, that is, all portions that relate to the question of what I knew about Watergate or the coverup and what I did about it.
They also include transcripts of other conversations which were not subpoenaed, but which have a significant bearing on the question of Presidential actions with regard to Watergate. These will be delivered to the committee tomorrow.
In these transcripts, portions not relevant to my knowledge or actions with regard to Watergate are not included, but everything that is relevant is included-the rough as well as the smooth-the strategy sessions, the exploration of alternatives, the weighing of human and political costs.
As far as what the President personally knew and did with regard to Watergate and the coverup is concerned, these materials--together with those already made available--will tell it all.
I shall invite Chairman Rodino and the committee's ranking minority member, Congressman Hutchinson of Michigan, to come to the White House and listen to the actual, full tapes of these conversations, so that they can determine for themselves beyond question that the transcripts are accurate and that everything on the tapes relevant to my knowledge and my actions on Watergate is included. If there should be any disagreement over whether omitted material is relevant, I shall meet with them personally in an effort to settle the matter. I believe this arrangement is fair, and I think it is appropriate.
For many days now, I have spent many hours of my own time personally reviewing these materials and personally deciding questions of relevancy. I believe it is appropriate that the committee's review should also be made by its own senior elected officials, and not by staff employees.
The task of Chairman Rodino and Congressman Hutchinson will be made simpler than was mine by the fact that the work of preparing the transcripts has been completed. All they will need to do is to satisfy themselves of their authenticity and their completeness.
Ever since the existence of the White House taping system was first made known last summer, I have tried vigorously to guard the privacy of the tapes. I have been well aware that my effort to protect the confidentiality of Presidential conversations has heightened the sense of mystery about Watergate and, in fact, has caused increased suspicions of the President. Many people assume that the tapes must incriminate the President, or that otherwise, he would not insist on their privacy.
But the problem I confronted was this: Unless a President can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.
This principle is recognized in the constitutional doctrine of executive privilege, which has been defended and maintained by every President since Washington and which has been recognized by the courts, whenever tested, as inherent in the Presidency. I consider it to be my constitutional responsibility to defend this principle.
Three factors have now combined to persuade me that a major unprecedented exception to that principle is now necessary:
First, in the present circumstances, the House of Representatives must be able to reach an informed judgment about the President's role in Watergate.
Second, I am making a major exception to the principle of confidentiality because I believe such action is now necessary in order to restore the principle itself, by clearing the air of the central question that has brought such pressures upon it--and also to provide the evidence which will allow this matter to be brought to a prompt conclusion.
Third, in the context of the current impeachment climate, I believe all the American people, as well as their representatives in Congress, are entitled to have not only the facts but also the evidence that demonstrates those facts.
I want there to be no question remaining about the fact that the President has nothing to hide in this matter.
The impeachment of a President is a remedy of last resort; it is the most solemn act of our entire constitutional process. Now, regardless of whether or not it succeeded, the action of the House, in voting a formal accusation requiring trial by the Senate, would put the Nation through a wrenching ordeal it has endured only once in its lifetime, a century ago, and never since America has become a world power with global responsibilities.
The impact of such an ordeal would be felt throughout the world, and it would have its effect on the lives of all Americans for many years to come.
Because this is an issue that profoundly affects all the American people, in addition to turning over these transcripts to the House Judiciary Committee, I have directed that they should all be made public--all of these that you see here.
To complete the record, I shall also release to the public transcripts of all those portions of the tapes already turned over to the Special Prosecutor and to the committee that relate to Presidential actions or knowledge of the Watergate affair.
During the past year, the wildest accusations have been given banner headlines and ready credence as well. Rumor, gossip innuendo, accounts from unnamed sources of what a prospective witness might testify to, have filled the morning newspapers and then are repeated on the evening newscasts day after day.
Time and again, a familiar pattern repeated itself. A charge would be reported the first day as what it was--just an allegation. But it would then be referred back to the next day and thereafter as if it were true.
The distinction between fact and speculation grew blurred. Eventually, all seeped into the public consciousness as a vague general impression of massive wrongdoing, implicating everybody, gaining credibility by its endless repetition.
The basic question at issue today is whether the President personally acted improperly in the Watergate matter. Month after month of rumor, insinuation, and charges by just one Watergate witness-John Dean--suggested that the President did act improperly.
This sparked the demands for an impeachment inquiry. This is the question that must be answered. And this is the question that will be answered by these transcripts that I have ordered published tomorrow.
These transcripts cover hour upon hour of discussions that I held with Mr. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, John Mitchell, former Attorney General Kleindienst, Assistant Attorney General Petersen, and others with regard to Watergate.
They were discussions in which I was probing to find out what had happened, who was responsible, what were the various degrees of responsibilities, what were the legal capabilities, what were the political ramifications, and what actions were necessary and appropriate on the part of the President.
I realize that these transcripts will provide grist for many sensational stories in the press. Parts will seem to be contradictory with one another, and parts will be in conflict with some of the testimony given in the Senate Watergate committee hearings.
I have been reluctant to release these tapes, not just because they will embarrass me and those with whom I have talked-which they will--and not just because they will become the subject of speculation and even ridicule--which they will-and not just because certain parts of them will be seized upon by political and journalistic opponents--which they will.
I have been reluctant because, in these and in all the other conversations in this office, people have spoken their minds freely, never dreaming that specific sentences or even parts of sentences would be picked out as the subjects of national attention and controversy.
I have been reluctant because the principle of confidentiality is absolutely essential to the conduct of the Presidency. In reading the raw transcripts of these conversations, I believe it will be more readily apparent why that principle is essential and must be maintained in the future. These conversations are unusual in their subject matter, but the same kind of uninhibited discussion--and it is that--the same brutal candor is necessary in discussing how to bring warring factions to the peace table or how to move necessary legislation through the Congress.
Names are named in these transcripts. Therefore, it is important to remember that much that appears in them is no more than hearsay or speculation, exchanged as I was trying to find out what really had happened, while my principal aides were reporting to me on rumors and reports that they had heard, while we discussed the various, often conflicting stories that different persons were telling.
As the transcripts will demonstrate, my concerns during this period covered a wide range. The first and obvious one was to find out just exactly what had happened and who was involved.
A second concern was for the people who had been, or might become, involved in Watergate. Some were close advisers, valued friends, others whom I had trusted. And I was also concerned about the human impact on others, especially some of the young people and their families who had come to Washington to work in my Administration, whose lives might be suddenly ruined by something they had done in an excess of loyalty or in the mistaken belief that it would serve the interests of the President.
And then, I was quite frankly concerned about the political implications. This represented potentially a devastating blow to the Administration and to its programs, one which I knew would be exploited for all it was worth by hostile elements in the Congress as well as in the media. I wanted to do what was right, but I wanted to do it in a way that would cause the least unnecessary damage in a highly charged political atmosphere to the Administration.
And fourth, as a lawyer, I felt very strongly that I had to conduct myself in a way that would not prejudice the rights of potential defendants.
And fifth, I was striving to sort out a complex tangle, not only of facts but also questions of legal and moral responsibility. I wanted, above all, to be fair. I wanted to draw distinctions, where those were appropriate, between persons who were active and willing participants on the one hand, and on the other, those who might have gotten inadvertently caught up in the web and be technically indictable but morally innocent.
Despite the confusions and contradictions, what does come through clearly is this:
John Dean charged in sworn Senate testimony that I was "fully aware of the coverup" at the time of our first meeting on September 15, 1972. These transcripts show clearly that I first learned of it when Mr. Dean himself told me about it in this office on March 21--some 6 months later.
Incidentally, these transcripts--covering hours upon hours of conversations-should place in somewhat better perspective the controversy over the 18 1/2 minute gap in the tape of a conversation I had with Mr. Haldeman back in June of 1972.
Now, how it was caused is still a mystery to me and, I think, to many of the experts as well. But I am absolutely certain, however, of one thing: that it was not caused intentionally by my secretary, Rose Mary Woods, or any of my White House assistants. And certainly, if the theory were true that during those 18 1/2 minutes, Mr. Haldeman and I cooked up some sort of a Watergate coverup scheme, as so many have been quick to surmise, it hardly seems likely that in all of our subsequent conversations--many of them are here-which neither of us ever expected would see the light of day, there is nothing remotely indicating such a scheme; indeed, quite the contrary.
From the beginning, I have said that in many places on the tapes there were ambiguities--a statement and comments that different people with different perspectives might interpret in drastically different ways--but although the words may be ambiguous, though the discussions may have explored many alternatives, the record of my actions is totally clear now, and I still believe it was totally correct then.
A prime example is one of the most controversial discussions, that with Mr. Dean on March 21--the one in which he first told me of the coverup, with Mr. Haldeman joining us midway through the conversation.
His revelations to me on March 21 were a sharp surprise, even though the report he gave to me was far from complete, especially since he did not reveal at that time the extent of his own criminal involvement.
I was particularly concerned by his report that one of the Watergate defendants, Howard Hunt, was threatening blackmail unless he and his lawyer were immediately given $121,000 for legal fees and family support, and that he was attempting to blackmail the White House, not by threatening exposure on 'the Watergate matter, but by threatening to reveal activities that would expose extremely sensitive, highly secret national security matters that he had worked on before Watergate.
I probed, questioned, tried to learn all Mr. Dean knew about who was involved, what was involved. I asked more than 150 questions of Mr. Dean in the course of that conversation.
He said to me, and I quote from the transcripts directly: "I can just tell from our conversation that these are things that you have no knowledge of."
It was only considerably later that I learned how much there was that he did not tell me then--for example, that he himself had authorized promises of clemency, that he had personally handled money for the Watergate defendants, and that he had suborned perjury of a witness.
I knew that I needed more facts. I knew that I needed the judgments of more people. I knew the facts about the Watergate coverup would have to be made public, but I had to find out more about what they were before I could decide how they could best be made public.
I returned several times to the immediate problem posed by Mr. Hunt's blackmail threat, which to me was not a Watergate problem, but one which I regarded, rightly or wrongly, as a potential national security problem of very serious proportions. I considered long and hard whether it might in fact be better to let the payment go forward, at least temporarily, in the hope that this national security matter would not be exposed in the course of uncovering the Watergate coverup.
I believed then, and I believe today, that I had a responsibility as President to consider every option, including this one, where production of sensitive national security matters was at issue--protection of such matters. In the course of considering it and of "just thinking out loud," as I put it at one point, I several times suggested that meeting Hunt's demands might be necessary.
But then I also traced through where that would lead. The money could be raised. But money demands would lead inescapably to clemency demands, and clemency could not be granted. I said, and I quote directly from the tape: "It is wrong, that's for sure." I pointed out, and I quote again from the tape: "But in the end we are going to be bled to death. And in the end it is all going to come out anyway. Then you get the worst of both worlds. We are going to lose, and people are going to---"
And Mr. Haldeman interrupts me and says: "And look like dopes !"
And I responded, "And in effect look like a coverup. So that we cannot do."
Now, I recognize that this tape of March 21 is one which different meanings could be read in by different people. But by the end of the meeting, as the tape shows, my decision was to convene a new grand jury and to send everyone before the grand jury with instructions to testify.
Whatever the potential for misinterpretation there may be as a result of the different options that were discussed at different times during the meeting, my conclusion at the end of the meeting was clear. And my actions and reactions as demonstrated on the tapes that follow that date show clearly that I did not in. tend the further payment to Hunt or anyone else be made. These are some of the actions that I took in the weeks that followed in my effort to find the truth, to carry out my responsibilities to enforce the law:
As a tape of our meeting on March 22, the next day, indicates, I directed Mr. Dean to go to Camp David with instructions to put together a written report. I learned 5 days later, on March 26, that he was unable to complete it. And so on March 27, I assigned John Ehrlichman to try to find out what had happened, who was at fault, and in what ways and to what degree.
One of the transcripts I am making' public is a call that Mr. Ehrlichman made to the Attorney General on March 28, in which he asked the Attorney General to report to me, the President, directly, any information he might find indicating possible involvement of John Mitchell or by anyone in the White House. I had Mr. Haldeman separately pursue other, independent lines of inquiry.
Throughout, I was trying to reach determinations on matters of both substance and procedure on what the facts were and what was the best way to move the case forward. I concluded that I wanted everyone to go before the grand jury and testify freely and fully. This decision, as you will recall, was publicly announced on March 30, 1973. I waived executive privilege in order to permit everybody to testify. I specifically waived executive privilege with regard to conversations with the President, and I waived the attorney-client privilege with John Dean in order to permit him to testify fully and, I hope, truthfully.
Finally, on April 14--3 weeks after I learned of the coverup from Mr. Dean-Mr. Ehrlichman reported to me on the results of his investigation. As he acknowledged, much of what he had gathered was hearsay, but he had gathered enough to make it clear that the next step was to make his findings completely available to the Attorney General, which I instructed him to do.
And the next day, Sunday, April 15, Attorney General Kleindienst asked to see me, and he reported new information which had come to his attention on this matter. And although he was in no way whatever involved in Watergate, because of his close personal ties, not only to John Mitchell but to other potential people who might be involved, he quite properly removed himself from the case.
We agreed that Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen, the head of the Criminal Division, a Democrat and career prosecutor, should be placed in complete charge of the investigation.
Later that day, I met with Mr. Petersen. I continued to meet with him, to talk with him, to consult with him, to offer him the full cooperation of the White House--as you will see from these transcripts-even to the point of retaining John Dean on the White House Staff for an extra e weeks after he admitted his criminal involvement, because Mr. Petersen thought that would make it easier for the prosecutor to get his cooperation in breaking the case if it should become necessary to grant Mr. Dean's demand for immunity.
On April 15, when I heard that one of the obstacles to breaking the case was Gordon Liddy's refusal to talk, I telephoned Mr. Petersen and directed that he should make clear not only to Mr. Liddy but to everyone that--and now I quote directly from the tape of that telephone call--"As far as the President is concerned, everybody in this case is to talk and to tell the truth." I told him if necessary I would personally meet with Mr. Liddy's lawyer to assure him that I wanted Liddy to talk and to tell the truth.
From the time Mr. Petersen took charge, the case was solidly within the criminal justice system, pursued personally by the Nation's top professional prosecutor with the active, personal assistance of the President of the United States.
I made clear there was to be no coverup.
Let me quote just a few lines from the transcripts--you can read them to verify them--so that you can hear for yourself the orders I was giving in this period.
Speaking to Haldeman and Ehrlichman, I said: "... It is ridiculous to talk about clemency. They all knew that."
Speaking to Ehrlichman, I said: "We all have to do the fight thing... We just cannot have this kind of a business..."
Speaking to Haldeman and Ehrlichman, I said: "The boil had to be pricked • . . We have to prick the boil and take the heat. Now that's what we are doing here."
Speaking to Henry Petersen, I said: "I want you to be sure to understand that you know we are going to get to the bottom of this thing."
Speaking to John Dean, I said: "Tell the truth. That is the thing I have told everybody around here."
And then speaking to Haldeman: "And you tell Magruder, 'now Jeb, this evidence is coming in, you ought to go to the grand jury. Purge yourself if you're perjured and tell this whole story.'"
I am confident that the American people will see these transcripts for what they are, fragmentary records from a time more than a year ago that now seems very distant, the records of a President and of a man suddenly being confronted and having to cope with information which, if true, would have .the most far-reaching consequences, not only for his personal reputation but, more important, for his hopes, his plans, his goals for the people who had elected him as their leader.
If read with an open and a fair mind and read together with the record of the actions I took, these transcripts will show that what I have stated from the beginning to be the truth has been the truth: that I personally had no knowledge of the break-in before it occurred, that I had no knowledge of the coverup until I was informed of it by John Dean on March 21, that I never offered clemency for the defendants, and that after March 21, my actions were directed toward finding the facts and seeing that justice was done, fairly and according to the law.
The facts are there. The conversations are there. The record of actions is there.
To anyone who reads his way through this mass of materials I have provided, it will be totally, abundantly clear that as far as the President's role with regard to Watergate is concerned, the entire story is there.
As you will see, now that you also will have this mass of evidence I have provided, I have tried to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee. And I repeat tonight the offer that I have made previously: to answer written interrogatories under oath and, if there are then issues still unresolved, to meet personally with the chairman of the committee and with Congressman Hutchinson to answer their questions under oath.
As the committee conducts its inquiry, I also consider it only essential and fair that my counsel, Mr. St. Clair, should be present to cross-examine witnesses and introduce evidence in an effort to establish the truth.
I am confident that for the overwhelming majority of those who study the evidence that I shall release tomorrow-those who are willing to look at it fully, fairly, and objectively--the evidence will be persuasive and, I hope, conclusive.
We live in a time of very great challenge and great opportunity for America.
We live at a time when peace may become possible in the Middle East for the first time in a generation.
We are at last in the process of fulfilling the hope of mankind for a limitation on nuclear arms--a process that will continue when I meet with the Soviet leaders in Moscow in a few weeks.
We are well on the way toward building a peace that can last, not just for this but for other generations as well.
And here at home, there is vital work to be done in moving to control inflation, to develop our energy resources, to strengthen our economy so that Americans can enjoy what they have not had since 1956: full prosperity without war and without inflation.
Every day absorbed by Watergate is a day lost from the work that must be done by your President and by your Congress work that must be done in dealing with the great problems that affect your prosperity, affect your security, that could affect your lives.
The materials I make public tomorrow will provide all the additional evidence needed to get Watergate behind us and to get it behind us now.
Never before in the history of the Presidency have records that are so private been made so public.
In giving you these records--blemishes and all--I am placing my trust in the basic fairness of the American people.
I know in my own heart that through the long, painful, and difficult process revealed in these transcripts, I was trying in that period to discover what was right and to do what was right.
I hope and I trust that when you have seen the evidence in its entirety, you will see the truth of that statement.
As for myself, I intend to go forward, to the best of my ability, with the work that you elected me to do. I shall do so in a spirit perhaps best summed up a century ago by another President when he was being subjected to unmerciful attack. Abraham Lincoln said:
"I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."
Thank you and good evening.
Note: The President spoke at 9:01 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=14473
The American Presidency Project
Franklin D. Roosevelt
XXXII President of the United States: 1933-1945
1 - Inaugural Address
March 4, 1933
I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. [ See APP note, below.] This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6456
Speech of Joseph McCarthy, Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950
Six years ago, . . . there was within the Soviet orbit, 180,000,000 people. Lined up on the antitotalitarian side there were in the world at that time, roughly 1,625,000,000 people. Today, only six years later, there are 800,000,000 people under the absolute domination of Soviet Russia—an increase of over 400 percent. On our side, the figure has shrunk to around 500,000,000. In other words, in less than six years, the odds have changed from 9 to 1 in our favor to 8 to 5 against us.
This indicates the swiftness of the tempo of Communist victories and American defeats in the cold war. As one of our outstanding historical figures once said, “When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be from enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from within.” . . .
The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores . . . but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation. It has not been the less fortunate, or members of minority groups who have been traitorous to this Nation, but rather those who have had all the benefits that the wealthiest Nation on earth has had to offer . . . the finest homes, the finest college education and the finest jobs in government we can give.
This is glaringly true in the State Department. There the bright young men who are born with silver spoons in their mouths are the ones who have been most traitorous. . . .
- posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 5:18 PM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Friday 22 May 2015
