Juan Williams: Iraqi Protesters Are ‘Ingrate[s]‘ Who Should Appreciate U.S. Invasion
Juan Williams: Iraqi Protesters Are ‘Ingrate[s]‘ Who Should Appreciate U.S. Invasion
Last night on “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly slammed Muntader al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush, and said that if he had been there, he “would have physically taken the guy down.” Guest Juan Williams agreed, but he widened his condemnation to Iraqis in general, who he said were behaving like “ingrate[s]” for not appreciating what the United States has done for them:
WILLIAMS: But on a serious level, how many American lives have been sacrificed to the cause of liberating Iraq? How much money has been spent while they’re not spending their own profits from their oil? American money. So I just think it’s absolutely the act of an ingrate for them to behave in this way. Just unbelievable to me.
Watch it:
Last month, National Review’s Andy McCarthy was similarly frustrated by Iraqis’ failure to shower their occupiers with thanks and gratitude:
Thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions in taxpayer funds have been expended to provide Iraqis the opportunity to live freely. And this despite the facts that (a) the U.S. interest in Iraqi democracy remains tenuous…and (b) Americans were assured, when the nation-building enterprise commenced, that oil-rich Iraq would underwrite our sacrifices on its behalf. Yet, to be blunt, the Iraqis remain ingrates. That stubborn fact complicates everything.
Even President Bush is confused about Iraqis’ frustration, telling Bob Woodward, “I don’t understand that the Iraqis are not appreciative of what we’ve done for them.” Woodward explained, “He thinks we’ve done this magnificent thing for them. I think he still holds to that position.”
An Oxfam report from February 2008 put into startling focus what the U.S. invasion has really meant for Iraqis:
– More than four million Iraqis forced to flee either to another part of Iraq or abroad.
– Four million Iraqis regularly cannot buy enough food.
– 70 percent are without adequate water supplies, compared to 50 percent in 2003.
– 28 percent of children are malnourished, compared to 19 percent before the 2003 invasion.
– 92 percent of Iraqi children suffer learning problems, mostly due to the climate of fear.
The Brookings Institute’s Iraq index also notes that the national unemployment rate is somewhere between 25 and 40 percent. Fifty-six percent of Iraqis say things in Iraq are going “quite bad” or “very bad.” Sixty percent rate economic conditions as “poor” and 75 percent rate security conditions “poor.”
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Juan and Armstrong Williams, bush sycophants.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:56 amJeez, I wonder if Bill O’Reilly and Juan Williams have ever been invaded. If so, I’d be curious to know whether they showed proper appreciation to the invaders.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:58 amYeah, really be grateful for all those bombs in the ’shock & awe’, no electricity or clean water, all those deaths, unjustified random shootings, torture, ethnic cleansing, homeless refugees.
Why, they’ve never had it so good.
SNARK!
December 16th, 2008 at 12:00 pmI hope Bush and all his enablers like Juan and worse roast in the inner circle of hell
December 16th, 2008 at 12:03 pmShould African Americans be grateful for slavery, Juan?
December 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pmA million Dead Innocent Iraq Children, Women and Men killed by Shock and Awe protest Juan still being paid for his opinions.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:08 pmJuan Williams is completely right. The Iraqis ARE ingrates.
Just like all those New Yorkers who are still mad at al-Qa’ida for 9/11. I mean, seriously – those attacks opened up ACRES of valuable real estate and set in motion a massive redevelopment project that’ll eventually benefit all of lower Manhattan with jobs and office space and better access to the East River.
All at the low, low price of only, what, 3,000 lives? Most of them worthless stockbrokers and busboys and whatnot, like New York NEEDS any more of them.
And yet these New York ingrates still think “the terrorists” are the bad guys. Can you believe that crap? INGRATES!
December 16th, 2008 at 12:08 pmA Million Dead Innocent Iraqis protest Juan still being paid for his so-called opinion.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:09 pmBill O’Reilly slammed Muntader al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush, and said that if he had been there, he “would have physically taken the guy down.
Yeah, right. And given him a good loofahing or falafaling!
December 16th, 2008 at 12:09 pmWho the hell are you, Juan Williams, to speak for the Iraqis? Another idiot supporter. They’re a dime a dozen these days! Liberate Iraq, yeah right!
Destroy their museums, their libraries, their culture, trash their infrastructure, leave them without electricity, without water, and let’s not forget kill thousands of innocent civilians mothers children entire families. You name it. Wow, what an amazing act of liberation!
December 16th, 2008 at 12:10 pmGee, Bill’O don’t seem to have much of that “HOLIDAY” spirit, now does he…
December 16th, 2008 at 12:11 pmWell if they can’t show a little gratitude, I say we just pack up and go home.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:12 pmHey Juan — here’s an idea for ya you smug pr!ck. Grab yourself a megaphone and an Iraqi interpreter. Go stand in the middle of that Baghdad square where Bush and Cheney’s Blackwater thugs slaughtered 17 innocent Iraqi civlians and proclaim to the Iraqi people what “ingrates” they are. I triple-dog dare you you a$$-hole.
Just saying . . .
December 16th, 2008 at 12:14 pmThere’s a common thread here between Billo (”I would have taken him down”), Boy George (”Bring it on. Have you seen my Yosemite Sam swagger?”) and some of our trolls like Tracie-5 (”I swear I will meet you anytime anyplace. What’s that Dallas on Thursday? Sorry, Thursday’s my bowling night, but anytime/anywhere else”).
Such bad asses, such tough guys and girls. They all appear to be compensating for some weakness. Maybe little bitty…self esteems? Such cowardly punks, all of them.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pmI was never a fan of the Bush-Cheney regime. However, if a foreign power invaded our country to “liberate” us from those two, enabling a violent civil war within our borders, destroying our infrastructure, and creating a breeding and recruiting ground for terrorists — I doubt I’d be all that grateful, either.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:16 pmI’m confused. I thought Juan was supposed to be one of the “liberal” voices on Faux News.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:17 pmSorry Juan but no American lives were sacrificed liberating Iraq. Over four thousand American lives have been lost for the greater glory of PNAC, the Bush family and the interests of U.S. oil companies. If you wanted the gratitude of the Iraqi people perhaps someone should have asked them if they minded if we invaded and occupied their country.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pmkrazeeinjun Says: I triple-dog dare you you a$$-hole.
Damn straight!
I always thought Juan Williams generally an “undecided” that brought a modicum of alternative perspective to a biased forum but with this little diatribe he’s proven himself to be as ignorant as Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, and all the other extreme right-wing shills.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pmIt makes you wonder what color the sky is in their world…
December 16th, 2008 at 12:24 pmIt’s nice to see Juan and Bill so kissy-kissy again, but they never did explain how or why the Iraqis should be grateful for the destruction of their country.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:24 pmYeah, boy, and those damned Jews were ungrateful wretches – they didn’t show the proper gratitude to Herr Hitler, either!
MAJOR SNARK!!!
December 16th, 2008 at 12:29 pmDear people of America,
I understand that you have liberated us and we no longer have that evil man Sadam in power. My daughter used to have to stop her soccer game in the street when Sadam’s motorcade went through but thanks to you, that is no longer a problem.
How I miss her smile and her cheerfulness. Every since she and my wife were killed at a checkpoint I think of them every day.
I will be traveling to America soon and have a gift to show my country’s gratitude for the liberation and I can’t wait to have as many as possible of you experience my heartfelt emotion. Especially George Bush, who is the one person most responsible for our liberation.
Salam ……… Abdul Saleh
December 16th, 2008 at 12:30 pmAnyone supporting the occupation and accusing Iraqis of being “ingrates” is nothing short of sociopath, incapable of any kind of empathy towards the suffering of all those Iraqis at the receiving end of American foreign policy.
What do these sycophants believe Iraqis should be grateful for exactly? The torture chambers and “rape rooms” that Bush said were closed are still working -just like before the invasion, with the added problems of a destroyed physical infrastructure, diminished living conditions, decreased life expectancy, and a long list of other problems brought about by the invasion.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:32 pmThese Faux morons are just doing the propaganda work of a vile regime synonymous with Hitler’s. I’ve lost all respect I used to have for Mr. Williams.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:36 pmChris Matthews was on a similar rant yesterday on his show. I could barely believe my ears.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:37 pmO’Really couldn’t fight his way out of cobwebs–Mr. Tough Guy–who messed this assclown up so much? He has to be the angriest person on television–cannot stand his nonsense. He spews bullshit and when he is on the Daily Show or Letterman show and he is called on it–he blusters, and bbbuutts,….then when he gets back to the safety of Fox News, he distorts, lies or ultimately plays the victim.
Who cares about what he would do..I’d like to see him walk outside the Green Zone and spew his bs and see how long he lasts.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:39 pmctalk Says:
I’ve lost all respect I used to have for Mr. Williams.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
________
You used to have respect for Juan Williams?
You must be a far more tolerant person than I…
December 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pmJuan has gone off the deep end, wants to be a shill for kkkons
December 16th, 2008 at 12:42 pmctalk; I have not lost respect for Juan Williams. You can NOT lose what was never there to begin with. In other words, I’ve NEVER respected that POS.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:42 pmHere’s the thing. We’re getting bent out of shape over the economic problems here and I think justifiably so. That’s OK to complain about and feel bad about.
But Iraqi’s put in a similar situation where people can’t afford things and can’t go out… they can’t complain about that? And to add on that, many of them are getting killed for no real reason?
Basically we can complain for less and they can’t complain for more.
I’m not meaning to lower the sacrifice of our troops there, but it never should have happened and I don’t know how any sane person could believe that Iraqis are happy there now. Saddam Hussein falling was years ago now and nothing has improved. That kills morale, that kills hope, that kills everything.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:43 pmAmazing! Now the wingnuts are being victimized by the whole Iraqi populace. Is there anyone who isn’t victimizing right-wing authoritarians? Truly, these people are martyrs to their own good intentions. No good deed, etc. etc.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:43 pmI always knew Williams was a hack, and now he’s proved it beyond all doubt.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:44 pmJuan Williams knows which side his bread is buttered on. Over at NPR he’d be pretending to be “objective” and vaguely liberal. At Faux he pretends to be a “sensible” liberal, which is to say, a conservative jerk.
I suspect he has no real opinions or ethics until he’s told what they are.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:44 pmRepublicans are now using none Americans like Williams to talk. Williams is used for his color in hopes the GOP can claim they have black friends. Armstrong William, Michael Steele and Juan Williams are paid to support the Bush Policy. In these times of recession money talks and these worthless nothing will sell their souls to the Devil for a buck. This is an example of how low people of any color will go as the Taxpayers money is given out by Hank Paulson. It’s another form of pay to play.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:44 pmSomeone should heave a shoe at this idiot.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:47 pmI hear you guys. I’ve lost respect for the entire Bush supporting media.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pmI don’t know about you but I really admire that O’Reilly, he is so Macho that he would have taken the guy down. Quien es mas Macho, O’Reilly o Williams? Those Fox News windbags are so brave don’t you think. I mean, from where they sit.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pmI beieve if you say you freed a nation that it means you have given them the right to decide for themselves. You don’t get to “dictate” to them.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pm“Take my Shoe!”
December 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pmThe new expletive for the 21st century.
It’s easy to spew that bull$hit Juan when all you do is look at words. Why not have a peak at some of the very real and disturbing images of the carnage that has taken place and is taking place. Mothers mourning the loss of their families, children mourning their parents. Families and lives completely devestated.
You know, I’ve seen more poignant and in-depth coverage of the occupation from plain camera-footage stories on RAI (Italian Television) than I have ever seen in American media.
It’s funny that their stories don’t need to speak a word to put the message across, and our media uses nothing BUT words to lie and deceive.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:52 pmBut on a serious level, how many American lives have been sacrificed to the cause of liberating Iraq?
Thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions in taxpayer funds have been expended to provide Iraqis the opportunity to live freely.
This is their rationale time after time.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:01 pmEspecially in their wars based on lies.
They’re always ‘fighting for freedom’ and/or ‘democracy’.
They talk as if as long as their intentions are what they believe people see as good, that makes it more acceptable to bomb the hell out of innocent people.
The nerve of these fools! More O’Reilly Foolishness.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:01 pmThe Iraqis never asked for Bush and his cronies involvement in the first place. Bush is lucky he didn’t get shot! I just wish one of those big brown shoes would’ve hit his forehead just hard enough to leave a mark! LMAO!
Did the Iraqis ask for Democracy by military invasion? !!
December 16th, 2008 at 1:07 pmWhy does Juan think they should be appreciative?!!
It was Bush and Tony Blair who took that decision to go to war without UN Security Council’s approval, and when they did…it was not about democracy but it was bout saving America and the world from Saddam’s WMDs that never were there and never later were found.
That’s what we were told then in years 2002 and 2003.
It is really sad that O’Reilly, Williams are classified as ‘journalists’.
Juan and O’Reilly never mentioned Iraqis deaths,their sufferings and the destruction resulted from over 5 years of war which came after 10 years of rigid regime of economic sanctions,following a destructive war in 1991.
If Fox indeed is interested in news, then they have no reason to pay millions of dollars in contracts for these hired clowns whose job is to feed viewers with ‘rubbish’ talk all week long acting as propagandists.
ALEJCARO,
O’Reilly es mas macho que dos mujeres.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:07 pmHow much money has been spent while they’re not spending their own profits from their oil?
Reason #999999 why the repugs lost bigtime in this election.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:15 pmWILLIAMS: But on a serious level, how many American lives have been sacrificed to the cause of liberating Iraq?
It’s true that the Bush admin. has sacrificed American lives needlessly; that is tragic. But does Williams even care about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis – including many children- who have been killed thanks to what he calls a “liberation”. Obviously not. He is a detestable man who cares nothing for Iraqis.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:51 pmOh, but he’s right. And think of Juan’s ancestors, whom I’m certain would be most grateful for having been rescued from Africa so they could have a better life in America. I’d bet at least a couple of white folks died helping them “escape.” And, come to think of it, you’d think there’d be a little more gratitude coming out of the Native American community for those cool reservations we real Americans gave them. And so on.
I think Juan’s been on Fox Noise too long. He’s begun to absorb the propaganda. I could be wrong. Perhaps he didn’t have much of a brain to begin with. After all, he does come from that mindnumbing verbal Musak group … what is it? … oh, yeah, PBS, on which All Things Must Be Considered (though they never say why).
The fact is, along with all the good the U.S. has done in the world, we’ve also often behaved criminally. Those 4000+ great soldiers and Marines didn’t die for Iraqi freedom. They died for the egos of people like Bush.
Not even to mention that it’s likely that more Iraqis have died under King George than under Saddam, millions have been displaced, and the place has been nearly destroyed since we occupied it.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:06 pmThey invade their country for oil, destroy their infrastructure so that raw sewerage runs in the streets and no power for cooking facilities, cause ancient art treasures to be ruined and pillaged in what is the cradle of civilization, bomb the hell out of millions of innocent people and Fox’s “Uncle Tom” Juan says the Iraq’s should be grateful for this? Williams is dumber than he looks and that is in no way meant to be a racial slur. Frankly, I don’t care what race Williams is. I only wish he would stop playing Uncle Tom/Juan on that stupid FOX.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:30 pmCan we establish a fund to fly O’Reilly to Iraq and let him go “mano a mano” with the Iraqi ?
December 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pmThe Brookings Institute’s Iraq index also notes that the national unemployment rate is somewhere between 25 and 40 percent. Fifty-six percent of Iraqis say things in Iraq are going “quite bad” or “very bad.” Sixty percent rate economic conditions as “poor” and 75 percent rate security conditions “poor.”
So, in other words, the polls are better in Iraq for their government than they are in the USA for ours ?
December 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pmJuan Williams is speaking nonsense. He is just plain wrong here.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:32 pmwhen i show up largely uninvited to these a-holes homes to rewire their house so they can have grounded 3 prong outlets in every room, and after i leave them without electricity for years on end and eventually burn down their house and kill their kids in the fire because of my lack of training, knowledge, and a plan, i still expect billo and juan williams to be grateful for services rendered. hey, no more ungrounded, 2 prong outlets!
December 16th, 2008 at 2:51 pmSo if we did the something to Williams and McCarthy… say decide to knock down their house, without asking them, with their family in it (collateral damage, gotta break some eggs) and then overpay a bunch of contractors to rebuild it to be almost as good as it was (while they live in a tent for five years) – they should thank us?
December 16th, 2008 at 2:51 pmIt’s all so vulgar. Professional agitators. Stirring up hatred. Obscene. Guess that 18% is nodding its head in agreement. The other 78% is getting queasy.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pmalong the same line of reasoning, african-americans should be thankful for slavery since they got a free ride to america. then again, this clown is on faux, he very well may agree.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:46 pmI like Juan Williams in general, but this is one of the most bizarre things he, or anyone, has ever said.
Juan, put the shoe on the other foot and see if you would say the same thing.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:51 pmThis talking point is obscene. I assume only the stupidest people on the planet will be taken in by it. The rest of us can be physically sick that it is even TRIED. How greatful would WE be if say China invaded and occupied US? How greatful should the hundreds of thousands DEAD feel? Their families? How about those tortured? How greatful, and THEIR families. Juan is a tool. He has obviously sold out to even read that contemptous stupidity. The right isnt even TRYING to make sense anymore they just spew stupid red meat to their moron base.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:11 pmI bet American Idol gets better rating than Shakespear. I hear Hitlers speeches were real popular too. You ratings queens are pathetic.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:13 pm59, Bozo the Neoclown
Careful there.
A few years ago, a Columbia, SC BBQ joint got in trouble when the owner put out these pamphlets with these rather questionable assertions. Basically that the black slaves were thankful to their white masters who resuced them from illiteracy in Africa and introduced them to civilization. And a whole lot more “interesting” comments on slavery.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pmA couple of links:
I especially like http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/jallen2.html as the model phrase it lists could be reworded as “For every action and every liberal excessive reaction, a conservative will make an action that is excessive beyond the realm of believability.”
http://feministlawprofs.law.sc.edu/?p=3831
December 16th, 2008 at 5:48 pmha wow. juan sure knows how to balance.
mrbloggington.blogspot.com/2008/12/ingrates.html
December 16th, 2008 at 7:17 pmWell, don’t you know that we had to destroy Iraq in order to save it?
December 16th, 2008 at 7:53 pmI think Tracy was.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:58 pmand shame on us/prez Roosevelt for visiting destruction on the good people of Germany just to get rid of some overactive Nazis!! They would be so much better off today under Hitler et al.
Thank god for this nest of truth detectors unblemished by pragmatism. Amazed if this isn’t suppressed by
December 16th, 2008 at 10:55 pmyouturds Says:
Hey YouMoron, Nazi Germany was invading our allies like it was a blue plate special at K Mart and DECLARED WAR ON US. How did I miss Iraq declaring war on us? Oh thats right IT NEVER HAPPENED. You do realize you are ignorant beyond belief dont you? THAT Limborg talking point is a couple of years old even the stupidest of the propaganda parrots gave up on THAT vintage stupidity. Go play with the other special children and leave the adult discussion to adults
December 16th, 2008 at 11:44 pmi think the Iraqis prefer to stick with Saddam.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:48 pmJuan is a FauxNews “puppeted guest” !
December 17th, 2008 at 3:59 amHow dare the Iraqi people be so ungrateful to their master, the USA, after being responsible for at least 150,000 Iraqi babies, children and women being murdered. Ingrates.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:13 pmJust to make things even clearer, the choice to risk your life is and must always remain your own. Those who disagree with this are monsters.
What this means for Iraq isn’t that Iraqis should have always lived under Saddam’s rule. Rather it was up to Iraqis to overthrow Saddam. A civil war is no small matter, as everyone knows. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake.
Can you take the decision to put a cross on those lives ? Do you own these lives ? If something goes wrong, who pays the price ? You ?
Again, as we know, those who pay the price for the war are the civilians. It is therefore their decision.
The decision must always remain in the hands of those who pay the price, for anything. It is the cost principle and this is why there is no draft in America anymore.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pmIf Juan Williams had any brains he wouldn’t be on Fox News, the cable channel which is brought to you by and for uninformed of the U.S.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:19 pmI’m an Army nurse who recently came back from Iraq after suddenly starting to have grand mal seizures out of the blue that were diagnosed as chronic aseptic meningitis, meaning non-viral, non-bacterial, we-don’t-know-what-you’ve-got-but-you’ll-always-have-it. And where are they coming up with this 30,000 injured soldiers b.s.? The Pentagon’s been stuck on that number since before 2005! Let’s see… they admit that over 100,000 soldiers have brain trauma…”tens” of thousands have lost limbs, “several” thousand have been estimated with PTSD, and a nurse friend of mine at Brooke Army Medical has told me that they’ve made incidental findings of cancer in several of the kids that are patients there. Add that to the 4 million Iraqis that are refugees due to ethnic cleansing, the close to one million that have died…Did you see the story on CNN of the Chinese who openned a Chinese restaurant in Iraq where happy Iraqis sipped drinks in a “pacified” Iraq? All the customers were men. DON’T BE FOOLED! The Chinese were contractors! The “happy” Iraqis were also contract workers on their breaks and the whole set-up was in the f#@king Green Zone because it was a Pentagon propaganda film sent to the media! Get real. They lie. All media is filtered by the military! No journalists are allowed except those on the military payroll. All positive stories coming out of Iraq are at set-ups like the above or senators and dignataries are directed to a few of the walled-in areas where a massive clean-up and Hollywood worthy stage is set up with bazaars, stores, etc. It makes me sick! What do the Iraqis have to be grateful for? Williams and O’Bile-ry need to go for a stroll in the “real” Iraq. Yeah, right. Like thats’s gonna happen.
December 18th, 2008 at 11:17 am