This Week with George Stephanopoulos – September 1, 2013

Guests:

Jon Karl

Martha Raddatz

Terry Moran

Sec. of State John Kerry

Gen. James Cartwright (Ret.)

Vali Nasr

Stephanopoulos: wow Obama said

we should attack Syria but there's

no rush so he will ask Congress to approve

Stephanopoulos: this was a surprise

Karl: right – but his team is worried

that Congress is full of idiots

Stephanopoulos: good point

Karl: he's going to need the hippies

to support bombing

Stephanopoulos: martha General 

Dempsey gave Obama cover

Raddatz: well he told the truth

Stephanopoulos: well that too

Stephanopoulos: what's going on in Syria

Moran: the Syrian army claims

they frightened Obama

Stephanopoulos: how do the rebels feel?

Moran: Obama's popularity is low

among the rebels

Stephanopoulos: how sad

Stephanopoulos: Welcome Secretary Kerry - 

did you know Obama was not 

going to bomb Syria?

Kerry: he made a courageous decision

Stephanopoulos: but Congress is

full of untrustworthy weasels

Kerry: sure but that's democracy for you

Stephanopoulos: what if Congress

won't approve bombing?

Kerry: that's not going to happen

Stephanopoulos: oh really?

Kerry: we now have proof of the use of sarin!

Stephanopoulos: its Operation Genoa

Kerry: chemical weapons have been

banned since 1925

Stephanopoulos: will Obama bomb

if Congress does not approve

Kerry: this is about Israel, Iran, Hezbollah,

North Korea and Miley Cyrus

Stephanopoulos: so Obama will bomb anyway

Kerry: I didn't say that

Stephanopoulos: Assad is declaring

victory this morning

Kerry: if he wants a Tomahawk aimed

at this house he should keep it up

Stephanopoulos: it's sure to piss off Congress

Kerry: look we're not going to invade

Syria with troops – we just want to

send Assad a message that 

chemical weapons are bad

Stephanopoulos: could Assad do anything 

to avoid bombing?

Kerry: well he's already violated the

prohibition against using the weapons

Stephanopoulos: so nothing

Kerry: look anyway we need the authority 

from Congress to bomb

Stephanopoulos: Putin says Assad

would never use sarin – he's a pussycat

Kerry: our evidence is overwhelming

– we're showing it to everyone

Stephanopoulos: what else

Kerry: maybe Russia will join us once

they see how much evidence we have

Stephanopoulos: President McCain

wants to invade Syria

Kerry: He loves bombing and I promised

him there will be really big bombs

Stephanopoulos: that's good

Stephanopoulos: Americans are worried we are

going to get sucked into a middle east war

Kerry: that's not going to happen –

we have some great allies to fight there

and only some of them are al-qaeda

Stephanopoulos: what a relief

Kerry: we aim to please - and kill

[ break ]

Stephanopoulos: will this be a wider war?

Raddatz: probably

Cartwright: we can wait – the targets don't move

Stephanopoulos: we're not going 

to bomb the stockpiles

Cartwright: no that would spray 

chemicals everywhere

Stephanopoulos: so what do we hit?

Cartwright: where they are made

Stephanopoulos: will the wackos in

the Middle East respect us now?

Nasr: we must act fast or people

in the region will think we are weak

Stephanopoulos: I hear you

Nasr: it won't deter Assad if we keep

having debates in Congress

Raddatz: what is the long-term strategy?

Stephanopoulos: it isn't true the military

is skeptical of limited strikes

Cartwright: right – the military prefers to

invade, occupy, get stuck in a quagmire

and leave with great regret a decade later

Nasr: true deterrence is invading Syria

Raddatz: Obama made a red line comment!

Stephanopoulos: but isn't that irrelevant?

Raddatz: yes

Stephanopoulos: well ok then