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Democracy Now! Confronts Madeline Albright on the Iraq Sanctions: Was It Worth The Price?

Albright

In May of 1996, 60 Minutes aired an interview with Madeline Albright, who at the time was Clinton"s UN Ambassador. Correspondent Leslie Stahl said to Albright, "We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And — and you know, is the price worth it?" Democracy Now bumped into Albright yesterday and asked for her response. [includes rush transcript]

AMY GOODMAN: Secretary Albright—the question I have always wanted to ask’ do you regret having said, when asked do you think the price was worth it—

MADELINE ALBRIGHT: I have said 5,000 times that I regret it. It was a stupid statement. I never should have made it and if everybody else that has ever made a statement they regret, would stand up, there would be a lot of people standing. I have many, many times said it and I wish that people would report that I have said it. I wrote it in my book that it was a stupid statement.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think it laid the ground work for later being able to target Iraq and make it more acceptable on the part of the Bush administration?

MADELINE ALBRIGHT: What? You’ve got to be kidding.

AMY GOODMAN: The sanctions against Iraq.

MADELINE ALBRIGHT: The sanctions against Iraq were put on because Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. But there never were sanctions against food and medicine. And you people need to know there never were sanctions against food and medicine and I was responsible for getting food in there and getting Saddam Hussein to pump oil.

AMY GOODMAN: Former Secretary of state Madeline Albright speaking to us as she was leaving the convention center last night after John Kerry’s closing address, dozens of people remained in the FleetCenter arena.


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