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Glenn Beck

Do Radical Islamists Run Middle East?; Understanding the Language of Islamic Extremists

Aired September 12, 2006 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Coming up, the real story behind the president`s speech last night, and award winning actor Brian Dennehy will be here. I want to ask him how out of touch is Hollywood with the rest of America. That`s coming up next.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode is brought to you by the 2006 elections. If you want everything you care about to be turned into pabulum by self- serving yahoos, follow the 2006 elections.

BECK: Let`s be honest with each other. We live in a country now where people don`t say what they`re really thinking. I`m going to try to do that every night.

Regarding President Bush`s speech last night, here`s what people are saying: "He`s just trying to politicize 9/11 just to justify the war in Iraq." Well, here`s what I`m thinking: "Shut up. Stop playing politics."

Did you see the attack on our embassy in Syria? The Middle East is being overrun by 10th Century barbarians. That`s what I thought at 5 a.m. this morning, and I thought what is this? If they take over -- the barbarians storm the gate and take over the Middle East, this is what I`m thinking at 5 a.m. in the morning. We`re going to have to nuke the whole place.

Gee, I don`t want to be thinking that. And I certainly don`t want to get on national television and say it later. But as nuts as that sounds, here`s why that insane thought went through my head today, and it`s because I know about this much of the history of the Middle East.

Let me introduce you to some other insane thinkers. It`s called the government of Syria. They are no stranger in fighting terror. In the 1980s, the Muslim Brotherhood tried to overthrow the Syrian government. How did the Syrian government respond? They basically slaughtered as many as 40,000 people. Nuts, right?

But here`s what I was thinking this morning. Did they do it because they`re monsters that I just can`t relate to or are they doing that because that`s the only way to defeat extreme evil, to wipe it out completely?

And remember, the Syrians are not really the good guys in our scenario. I don`t want to become the Syrians, but what are the other alternatives when you`re dealing with people who won`t stop -- nothing will stop them until they kill you? And it`s a pattern in the Middle East. Or at least it feels that way.

Do you remember when we had those abomination abuses happening in Abu Ghraib? Remember, I`m a conservative. I was the one that said, "Come on, this dishonors our military. We shouldn`t behave like this."

Remember when we were criticized for Abu Ghraib? Well, we`ve just transferred power of Abu Ghraib over to the Iraqis. Probably didn`t hear that, did you?

The new Abu Ghraib is making the old American Abu Ghraib look like a Six Flags theme park. One American witness said that he heard screams of terror when he went back to Abu Ghraib. A prisoner actually grabbed him by the neck and begged him, "Please don`t leave us."

There have been multiple allegations of torture with devices like branding irons. It`s bad. And this prison is now being run by the good Iraqis. Holy cow.

Here`s the debate we should be having in this country right now. Not whether -- whether Bush last night messed up the war in Iraq and was using it in his speech for political gain. Here`s the debate. How do we win against an enemy like this?

We don`t see the world in the same way the people in the Middle East do. Even the good people there see it a little differently. The whole region is filled with good people, just like you and me. All they want to do is have a job, spend time with their family, and watch TV. At least that`s -- that`s what I believe. I can`t believe they`re different than me.

It`s the people who lob grenades at embassies that we have to confront and eliminate.

It is vital for us to remember the Middle East is a lot like Germany prior to World War II. It was a minority of Germans that put Hitler into power. Islamic fundamentalists, they don`t really comprise the majority of the people in the Middle East, and if they`re left unchecked, they`re going to take over and dominate just like Hitler did. And then, it`s a slippery slope right into hell, man. It really is.

So here`s what I`m thinking today. Yes, it seems like most of the Middle East is filled with 10th Century barbarians. But that`s not the story. There are forces in the region that are desperate to drive us back to those times, and we have to eliminate them before they take over the Middle East and destroy us all.

Daniel Pipes is here. He`s the director of the Middle East Forum.

Daniel, tell me I`m wrong.

DANIEL PIPES, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST FORUM: I`d agree with almost everything you said. I`d disagree with a few points.

BECK: OK.

PIPES: But basically you`re right. And I think the key word you made -- you said was sick. The Middle East is a sick region politically. Very sick. And you gave a -- you gave a dramatic illustration of it.

BECK: OK, so let`s take Syria here. Who do you think is behind Syria today? The bombing of our embassy?

PIPES: Either this is another incident of radical Islam, of terrorism such as happened not just in the United States and Europe but also in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and other parts of the world. Iraq, all the time.

Or it is a -- an operation that was devised by the Syrian government in order to get out of a sticky situation or improve its circumstances. I don`t know what it is, but I certainly think we have to be open to the second possibility.

BECK: OK, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The debate, what are they trying to get out of? What are they trying to do here? If it is the second idea.

PIPES: The Syrians are in a lot of trouble, and they are, perhaps, looking to this terrorism incident to fix things. For example, there are going to be European and other troops in Lebanon on their border.

Israel has indicated a lot of discontent with the Syrian government. The U.S. has. So a lot of the Arab neighbors are discontent with them. So this is a way to perhaps get out of the news. What`s striking is that they`ve done this many times before.

BECK: Isn`t -- isn`t Syria -- basically, I mean, if you use a World War II analogy. And I think Syria is the head of the snake. I don`t know how you stand on this, but I think they are just -- they`re Germany in World War II. Isn`t Syria kind of the Austria to Iran`s Germany?

PIPES: Except Syria is not occupied by Iran. They`re making their own decisions, but I have no argument with you that Syria is far lesser of the two states and Iran is the real threat.

BECK: So if Syria did this, would that implicate, would that implicate -- I mean, at least in your mind would that implicate that, I mean, at least Iran knew that...

PIPES: I doubt it.

BECK: You doubt it?

PIPES: I think the Syrians make their own tactics. And for example, they murdered the former president of Lebanon a year and a half ago. And through the 1980s -- you may not recall this, but there was a consistent drum beat of seizing American captives and then releasing American captives. They were playing this double game.

They attacked the Danish -- allowed the Danish embassy to be burned back in February. The U.N. -- U.N. mission was attacked some time ago. It happens over and over again.

Syria is a police state.

BECK: Right.

PIPES: Nobody can do something like this, for the most part, without permission. So one has to be really suspicious that this might be a Syrian operation.

BECK: Is Syria -- do they have -- I mean, the ayatollah in Iran, he`s got an end-times view. I mean, they are -- they`re spooky.

PIPES: Yes.

BECK: Is Syria the same kind of...

PIPES: No.

BECK: ... thinking?

PIPES: What you have in Syria is a decayed leftist autocracy that 40 years ago had some life and meaning but today means nothing at all. And what`s so striking about Syria, as in North Korea, it`s a republican government. It`s not a monarchy. As in North Korea, it`s the son of the previous dictator that`s now the present dictator.

BECK: Right.

PIPES: It is a wild republican and monarchical scheme they have going on there.

BECK: The people that -- the radical Islam, I mean, the nut jobs, do we have to wipe them all out? Is there a way to not win this without just basically doing what the Syrians did?

PIPES: If you look at the prior two ideological battles we fought, against Germany, against the Soviet Union, Germany, you can say we wiped out, but the Soviet Union we defeated in a far more subtle way.

BECK: Yes, but...

PIPES: I`m not exactly sure which way this will happen, but the key is we have to defeat them.

BECK: Right.

PIPES: What that means exactly will take a lot of discussion and research, but we have to defeat them.

BECK: OK. Daniel, I`m a big fan of yours. Thanks you very much. I appreciate your time.

PIPES: Thank you.

BECK: All right. Let`s -- let`s check out now some -- some headlines, what people in Iran are reading today. In "The Tehran Times" they have an article quoting the director of a London-based research center on terrorism, and he feels like the U.S. really doesn`t give a crap about public opinion in the Mideast.

Here`s the headline. Look at this. "The U.S. Indifferent to Middle East Public Opinion," says the academic, but that`s not nearly as inflammatory as what this guy is quoted as saying. Here`s the quote: "Recent developments in the region, including Hezbollah`s victory, U.S. troops, difficulties in Iraq, the escalation of instability in southern Afghanistan, and the principled resistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the U.S. in defense of its nuclear activities have caused failures for U.S. officials."

He then goes on to bash the Bush administration, saying the only problem -- or the only opinion that matters to U.S. is that of the American public.

Well, that`s a -- I mean, that`s an interesting theory, but you would think if that were the case, support of Bush would be just a tad higher, wouldn`t it? I mean, come on, do you really think we`re fighting the war on terrorism so people will like us? We`re not worried about al Qaeda blowing up planes, or other Islamic groups that are radicalized. No, no, no. We`re just over there to win in the court of public opinion.

Another day, yes, another slanted view in the Iranian papers.

Coming up, you have the headlines. Now let`s look at the vocabulary that you need to follow the nut job rantings coming out of Iran.

Also, guess what Jane Fonda, Rosie O`Donnell and Gloria Steinem are teaming up for. It`s sicker than what you can possibly even imagine.

And the significance of a hero. Brian Dennehy joins me a little later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: The speech last night with the president, if I hear one more person today say he used 9/11 to talk about Iran. He used 9/11. When is he supposed to talk about it? Is there a possibility he actually believes these guys are trying to kill us all? Is there a better time?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, six or seven years ago most of us had probably never heard the phrase "Allah akbar." Now I say that and, most likely, you know exactly what that means.

We didn`t know what a jihad was. Could you six or seven years ago pick Osama bin Laden out of a lineup? Probably not.

But kind of like growing up with a Spanish housekeeper, sometimes you pick things up without even trying. Unfortunately, most of us -- at least I do -- have a long way to go.

The word caliphate has been used in the president`s speeches a lot lately. I was talking to my wife just the other day and a group of friends, and they`re like, "OK, explain caliphate to me." Most people can`t define it.

And I bet you`ve probably never even heard the word taqiyya, even though it`s one of the most basic, and shocking, al Qaeda principles.

Since we`re essentially at war with an ideology, we`ve got to understand their words, their culture and the way they think if we`re ever going to have a chance to defeat them. So to help us start that process, I`ve brought in Nonie Darwish. She`s an expert in the Middle East.

Nonie, thank you for joining us.

NONIE DARWISH, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: Hi, Glenn. Thank you for having me.

BECK: You bet. So let`s start with this, because a guy in the radio show, I -- am I pronouncing taqiyya right?

DARWISH: Yes.

BECK: OK. Yes, like she said. A guy in the radio show said that doesn`t even exist in any principal of Islam and I said it does with nut jobs. Can you explain what this word is, what it means?

DARWISH: Taqiyya is a -- a word that became incorporated in our characters. As Muslims, we`re supposed to defend Islam. And lying is not allowed in Islam except under certain conditions. And this condition is if you are in war with non-Muslims to defend Islam if it`s necessary to lie, then it`s allowed.

BECK: OK. And you have an example with this from 9/11?

DARWISH: Yes. For example, some Muslim leaders, when they speak to the west, they say we -- we are against terrorism, but when they go back home to the Middle East, they are proud of the jihad. They approve of what the terrorists are doing. There are many examples, like Yasser Arafat, for example. He would say, "I`m against terrorism," but he would say jihad is...

BECK: This is why we can`t negotiate with the U.N. with Iran, right? Because they`ll say whatever they need to say.

DARWISH: Definitely.

BECK: OK.

DARWISH: And it`s -- another example of that is Muslims -- moderate Muslims who are speaking out, they are defying this in the eyes of radicals. We are not following the rules of Islam, which is never, ever...

BECK: OK. Give me the rules of Islam. What is -- what is the name of the law? And define this.

DARWISH: We`re not supposed to criticize Islam or criticize...

BECK: No, no, no, I mean it`s Sharia law, right? How do you say it?

DARWISH: Sharia law.

BECK: Sharia law.

DARWISH: It is the Islamic law, and it`s in an Islamic state it`s supposed to be the only law. It is split between criminal law and civil law.

BECK: This is the one that we -- this is the one that they`re trying to make all of us live under, and this is the one that will get us all killed. Because, well, for instance, women are stoned to death under this law.

DARWISH: And men, too. Even men can be executed for -- limbs amputated under the criminal Sharia law. And then the civil law, Sharia law, is also very unfair to women in courts. It allows polygamy for men. It allows divorce only for men. Women can only ask her husband for a divorce under Sharia law.

BECK: Yes, I love this. I love this. Anybody who has ever been divorced try this. I mean, this law, all you have to say to your wife is, "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you," and you`re out. Yes.

Try -- try caliphate. Define that, because that word is starting to bubble up everywhere and people don`t necessarily know what that means. Define what caliphate is.

DARWISH: A caliphate state existed after Mohammed by -- by people who became leaders of a Muslim faith, an Islamic state. And that`s incorporated many countries in the Middle East. Right now the radical Muslims want to bring that back, the glory of the days of the caliphate.

BECK: Oh, and it was glorious.

DARWISH: And that`s what they want. They want to claim from Spain to Southeast Asia as an Islamic one state.

BECK: OK.

DARWISH: Which was never really -- which never really happened.

BECK: Right. Nonie...

DARWISH: They`re dreaming of it.

BECK: Right. Aren`t we all? Seriously, Nonie, thank you so much.

DARWISH: Thank you.

BECK: Now there is a good chance that President Tom is actually coming to New York next week to address the U.N., and while he`s in town, he also wants to debate President Bush. Great. Probably won`t happen, but as I figure, if it does, heck, I`m willing to do my part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And now an open letter to President Ahmadinejad. Recently, it came to our attention that you wish to debate President Bush on national TV. In the event that hell does in fact freeze over, we believe GLENN BECK would be the perfect venue for the debate. Here`s why. With Glenn Beck as moderator, you get someone who`s not only fair but patient.

BECK: What part, Mr. Gross, don`t you understand about free speech?

I can`t have a dialogue with you, because you`re spinning. You`re just being a politician.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bull crap.

ANNOUNCER: The Bush-Ahmadinejad debate coming this fall. Well, probably not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Every day you can hear my radio program on stations all across this great country, including 1510 WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee, 540 WFLA in Orlando, Florida, and on our affiliate in St. Louis, KFDK, 97.1 FM, it`s Dave Glover.

Hello, Dave.

DAVE GLOVER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: How are you doing, buddy?

BECK: Good. I had a very long, quiet elevator ride to my studio today with Gloria Steinem.

GLOVER: No, you didn`t.

BECK: Yes, I did, and Jane Fonda in the building.

GLOVER: Seriously? Wow.

BECK: Yes. It was quiet.

GLOVER: Now that`s -- that`s epic, because pretty much this means the end of your career. So we`ll always look back on this day.

BECK: Is that what it means?

GLOVER: I think absolutely.

BECK: I was afraid of that. Please don`t kill me.

GLOVER: Goodbye to Mr. Third Biggest Audience in the Country. For the folks who don`t know what we`re talking about, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Rosie O`Donnell, Billie Jean King -- there`s a name you haven`t heard in a while -- just today launched a female left-leaning talk radio syndicate.

BECK: They`re -- they`re left? No.

GLOVER: I did a little research on this, me, and one of the principals, Robin Morgan from "Ms." magazine, once did an essay -- true story -- wrote an essay with the subtitle, "White Males are Responsible for Most of the Destruction to Human Life and the Environment on the Planet." Fair and balanced. Fair and balanced.

BECK: Well, I mean, that is actually true.

GLOVER: You know, this...

BECK: I mean, well, yes, I mean, we`re not necessarily, but it is true. We are good at building things that break things.

GLOVER: Tearing them to hell. I went to the web site, and they`re promising, quote, "femininity and class." I don`t know about you, but when I think femininity and class, one name pops up, Rosie O`Donnell.

BECK: That`s exactly what I`m thinking. You know, why does -- why does anybody think that this is a hole in America? I mean, why did somebody think that there`s going to be an audience for this? I have a prediction. Air America will be off the air by Christmas.

GLOVER: They`re going to take over. They are -- I think they`re using their studios. They`ll be making payments to Air America. But they did an extensive research, according to Jane Fonda. Saw her this morning on "The Today Show". She says extensive research shows the No. 1 thing women want, they want to laugh. And so what`s the funniest thing in America? Female stand-up comedians. They found three of them, and they put them on a morning show. Compete with that, Jack.

BECK: I mean, Jane Fonda is not exactly funny. When I think Gloria Steinem, I don`t think, "Ha, laugh riot."

GLOVER: Billie Jean King. I`ll give them Billie Jean King.

BECK: Come. You know, the problem with Rosie O`Donnell is I think that people like -- I mean, for a while I liked Rosie O`Donnell.

GLOVER: No, you didn`t. No, you didn`t.

BECK: I thought she was funny.

GLOVER: No, you thought she was Fred Flintstone. You didn`t like her.

BECK: Well, OK. Technically I thought that, as well, but she was funny. And then it just became this leftist, mean, angry agenda. Oh, do we have to see the footage?

GLOVER: It took about eight minutes.

BECK: Right. Now I guess here`s the good thing. After seeing the footage, let me be kind. Let me -- let me...

GLOVER: It`s your style.

BECK: Let me be kind and say anything nice. After seeing the footage, she`ll be better on radio.

GLOVER: For you, that`s nice.

BECK: That`s really bad, isn`t it?

All right. We`re out of time. I really want to talk to you. Maybe next time we can talk about the movement of changing the name dog to...

GLOVER: Canine American. It`s about time.

BECK: I can`t take it. Dave, thanks a lot. Talk to you soon.

GLOVER: Thanks, man.

BECK: Bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Welcome to the "Real Story", this is where we try to cut through the media spin and try to figure out why a story is actually important to you.

Last night, on the five year anniversary of September 11th, a new poll was released. The headlines, as spun by the media, was declaring today, "More Americans Blame bush for 9/11." There is one part of the poll showed that 45 percent of Americans now believe the Bush administration is either a great deal or a moderate amount responsible for the attacks of 9/11.

Another section of the poll showed 41 percent blame the Clinton administration. The real story before my eyes just start to bleed, the media left out that about 36 percent of Americans actually got it right. That`s the percentage who said they don`t blame either administration for what happened on 9/11.

As much as so many people want to make this about politics, it`s not. It`s about learning from our mistakes. Mistakes that were made by people from both parties going back decades, not just a few years.

But the mistakes don`t matter anymore, and the more we use them to play the blame game the less we`re learning from them because no one is listening to each other anymore because it`s just becoming about politics.

Next, during the president`s speech last night, he called this war against extreme Islam, "the calling of our generation." But the media today instead decided to focus on how divided they say this country really is about the war and, like I told you in the last story, who`s really to blame for 9/11.

Here`s the thing. No American actually likes war, most of us don`t even like a challenge. It would spook me if Americans liked war. But the real story is that before you buy into all of this media spin about how divided this nation is, let`s look at this historically. Shall we? Before Pearl Harbor was bombed -- this will blow your mind. Before Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, our country was adamantly opposed to war.

That`s not really a surprise but this is. Like I said, no generation ever wants to fight. But the surprising part is that our grandparents didn`t even recognize the enormity of the threat. In 1940, George Gallup did a series of polls about the war. In one of them, he said, "If it appears that Germany is defeating England and France, should the United States declare war on Germany?" Remember, defeating England and France. Seventy-seven percent said "No."

When he asked them why, the majority responded that "The United States learned its lesson in the last war," and, unbelievably, that "we would have everything to lose and nothing to gain." That`s our grandparents. Nothing to gain by defeating Hitler?

That was the attitude of this country less than two years before Pearl Harbor. Later that year, Gallup polled people again, this time leaving out the part about England and France, just simply asking this question, "Do you think the united states should declare war on Germany?"

Before I tell you the response, remember that at this time, when he was asking the question, this was after Germany had already invaded Norway, Holland, Belgium and France. So it wasn`t like Germany only had the potential to be evil, they were a real threat.

You ready for this? Ninety-three percent of our grandparents said "No."

All right. And that brings us back to today, the calling of our generation. Polls now show that 79 percent of Americans see international terrorism as an "extremely important" threat and 86 percent say Islamic fundamentalism is either a "critical or important" threat to our vital interests.

The good news is that we see the threats of our day far more clearly than our grandparents saw the threats of theirs. The bad news is that our grandparents, it took Pearl Harbor for them to finally decide to act. So if 9/11 wasn`t our Pearl Harbor, if 9/11 didn`t unite this country with a common purpose as Pearl Harbor did, then what will our Pearl Harbor need to be?

Finally, the headlines are all about how the president once again politicized 9/11 by giving a speech last night in which he tried to justify the war in Iraq. Ted Kennedy even went so far to say he should be ashamed of himself.

Ted, I`ve got to hand it to you. You want to talk about shame, you certainly are an authority on that. But the real story is that by paying so much attention to the spin, we`re missing the substance of the speech. The president once again quoted Osama bin Laden saying this fight was part of Word War III, quoting bin laden. Iraq is the most important front in the war.

You know, maybe the real story is that no one can own the truth. It doesn`t belong to one person. It doesn`t belong to the Democrats, it doesn`t belong to the Republicans. The truth is everybody`s. And you can only borrow it and use it as a shield to protect our children from a future that president described last night as, quote, "a Middle East overrun by radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons."

Have you ever thought that the president just simply takes the terrorists at their word when they say their ultimate goal is to destroy us? Maybe he understands these people make promises, not threats.

And that 9/11 was simply the first fulfillment of those promises. Maybe it`s time for the rest of us to start paying attention to the truth as well.

Ed Gillespie. He is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, author of the new book, "Winning Right."

Ed, I have to tell you, I`m a little nervous about talking to you because I don`t -- I`ve made it a policy of mine that I just -- there`s no spin on this program. I know it`s not the "no-spin zone", but I don`t want to talk politics. I just want to talk to human beings as Americans.

ED GILLESPIE, FORMER RNC CHAIR: I`ll try to refrain.

BECK: OK.

GILLESPIE: I`m open to that.

BECK: I mean, that`s your job and I appreciate that. I have got a job to do, too. But I just want to be -- Are you a dad?

GILLESPIE: I have three children, yes.

BECK: So let`s talk just as dads here for a second. There`s no bigger threat, I think, that the nation has ever faced than what we`re facing right now in Iran and Iraq is part of it.

The president, I said on my radio show before we went in that we`re not going in for the weapons of mass destruction. That`s a nice side note. I believed that they were there. I think the president believed that. But we were really going in for Iran. Now the president does not have a lot of credibility because they weren`t there and people have been pointing fingers. What does he have to do to get people to listen?

GILLESPIE: I don`t know what he can do to get people to listen. There are some people who just simply won`t listen. That`s their prerogative in a free society, but last night he made a strong case, again.

Look, there is a fundamental question at play here in the American political process, and there are those who say that Iraq was a fundamental mistake, that it is a distraction from the war on terror and that we need to get out now.

The president made a strong case that it was the right thing to do, that it is a centerpiece in the war on terror and a central battleground in the war on terror and we need to stay until we have completed the process of standing up a free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East so that a despotic Iraq and an Islamic fascist Iraq doesn`t arise that will seek to do us harm.

BECK: You know and I know that if we would have found the weapons of mass destruction, the whole world would be different today. We wouldn`t be having this argument. Ted Kennedy has the cojones to come out and say what he said last night. He is on record in 1998 saying the guy has got to be taken out, he poses a huge threat. Now he`s changed his tune.

But the whole world has this selective memory. The whole world felt the same way about Saddam Hussein.

GILLESPIE: Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin, former President Bill Clinton. Saddam Hussein wanted everyone to believe he a weapons of mass destruction. And our intelligence was flawed when it came to making an assessment.

The president and members of Congress have gone back and corrected that process in a way that hopefully we won`t have that again, but that doesn`t mean that Saddam Hussein was not a threat and it doesn`t mean that we should leave Iraq now and leave it in the hands of those who would see to do us harm and give them a stronghold.

BECK: What I`m trying to get here from you, Ed, you were sitting there strategizing with the president. You had to have known if these things didn`t show up, we`re toast. We`re in real trouble with credibility. What was the plan to make sure that there was some credibility to be able to make the strong case from here?

GILLESPIE: Well, let me just be clear. I was never involved in discussions with the president about weapons of mass destruction or the war. That was not my place. And I don`t have that kind of clearance.

With that said, obviously I think all of our working assumption was that the weapons of mass destruction would be found. And that was the assumption made by, as we said, everyone around the world. It wasn`t the case, but there was capacity found. The Iraq weapons inspection team, Hans Blix and others came back and said this guy had a system ready to go at a moment`s notice. It wasn`t up and running at the time that we went in.

BECK: OK. But to me, that`s still -- that doesn`t make a hill of beans of difference because really what we were going in to do what was not just neutralize Saddam Hussein and this is the hard thing.

I mean, when I say this, luckily I`m on tape saying this before we went into Iraq. Now it sounds like an apologist for the president. Look, we went in there to plant democracy in Iraq and in Afghanistan and crush Iran. That`s what we were really trying to do. Now it sounds like an apologist.

GILLESPIE: Well, I think what we are trying to do and what the goal remains and is the important goal here is to understand as the president laid out last night, not using his own words, but Osama bin Laden`s words and those of Zawahiri. They seek to establish in Baghdad what they call the capital of the caliphate, the Islamic regime across the globe including here in the United States.

Osama bin laden says that Iraq, the war there is the final deciding place between Islamism and the infidels. That`s their world view. And if we don`t fight it, they`re determined to take it here. They took it here at September 11th at the World Trade Center. They did it earlier in `93 at the World Trade Center, they tried, they did it in the USS Cole, they did it at our embassies and they`ll seek do it other places. They have brought this fight to us. We did not bring it to them.

BECK: Ed, thank you very much. That`s the "Real Story" tonight. Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Stillindan (ph) said during the break that they should have an intervention for me. Anytime we get an e-mail regarding Hugo Chavez and the ingredients in his oil, I think we need to step in and say, Glenn, you`re a Hugo Chavezaholic.

What was my weekend like, Stu?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glenn, your weekend is literal hell at this point. Every time I took to you, you`re googling some new Islamic word.

BECK: But I want to be accurate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The point is to do the stories without being a foreign policy institute.

BECK: We became -- What is that magazine. We became the "Economist." This show can never become "The Economist."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. I don`t want to be the "Economist." The "Economist" has the "Economist" handled.

BECK: It has to be more fun like "Forbes."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: If I were casting the movie of my life and wanted someone more macho, more handsome, more talented than myself in the title role, I`d pick Brian Dennehy. "Tommy Boy," "Cocoon," "FX", this guy, well, he`s sitting right here. How are you, sir.

BRIAN DENNEHY, ACTOR: How are you, thanks. Nice to meet you.

BECK: Nice to meet you.

DENNEHY: You just read that off of that card.

BECK: I did. You know what the thing is? I mean, I`m a big fan. You come in immediately and start -- I look like Fruit Stripe gum, don`t I?

DENNEHY: No, you look like the second lead third rate company of "Guys and Dolls", but that`s okay. Everything works except for the shirt and the tie. Other than that .

BECK: You know what`s so sad is that I agree with it. I don`t think I`ve ever seen a movie where you -- I`ve seen bad movies I think that you were in, but I don`t think I`ve seen you suck in a movie.

DENNEHY: Actually, a producer would say why do you think the movie was bad. If it had actors like Brian Dennehy in it.

BECK: Give me a movie where you sucked.

DENNEHY: Yeah, I`m going to step into that one. Gene Hackman had the best comment of all about this particular subject. Someone asked him about what movies he liked himself in and he said, I never really like any whole movie, there are certain scenes, there are certain moments in movies where I look at it and say that`s not terrible, that`s OK, that works.

BECK: Best scene for you then.

DENNEHY: I have no idea.

BECK: Really?

DENNEHY: That`s one of the reasons I like working in the theater because you don`t do that to yourself. You go out there, you spend three hours trying to get someplace, trying to figure something out. Every time you do it, like "Salesman" I did 650 times. You think you`ve gotten someplace or you`ve figured it out and there`s always another place to go.

BECK: Right.

DENNEHY: And you don`t worry about thought stuff. And the movies, there is the sense of, well, what did you think about this picture? I always like other people`s pictures, mine, I, always look at other performances and say that`s pretty interesting.

BECK: I know.

DENNEHY: My own stuff, I look at it and say, meh, it`s fraudulent.

BECK: You did a -- you just did a movie animated, it`s a kid`s movie. It`s about heroes. It was actually started with Christopher Reeves.

DENNEHY: Chris Reeves and Dana, his wife. Both of whom have passed away. And both of whom were heroes for different reasons. Him for obvious reasons. But very few people know the story of Dana and how hard she worked to take care of him and their kids and then tragically developed cancer herself.

Both extraordinary people.

BECK: This is an actual -- I hate it. I understand you feel the same way. I hate it when I bring my kids to a movie and all of a sudden you`re like this is -- what I am doing? My kids should not be seeing this.

DENNEHY: This is not "Talladega Nights" and this is not "Larry the Cable Guy" where you have an eight-year-old and you`re clapping your hands over their ears saying don`t listen to this part. This is a genuine kid`s picture. This is a picture for grandparents and for parents to take their eight year old, nine year old kids who play Little League baseball or basketball and who still haven`t completely lost their faith in Santa Claus and they will all have a wonderful time, including the parents.

BECK: OK. It is a story of Babe Ruth`s bat.

DENNEHY: It is Babe Ruth loses his bat. Someone steals it. This kid recovers it and gets it back to Babe. And it`s those adventures. And of course the bought and the ball happen to be able to speak to him, but -- and I play the voice or provide the voice for Babe Ruth.

BECK: Let`s watch a clip here. Here it comes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You little ruffian. I told you this hotel is not for snotty-nosed brats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s my guest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, but .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And bring him a banana split or something. Bring me one too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing? Yankee!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s your name, kid?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yankee Irving, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ve got spunk. You know that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He reminds me of me back in the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DENNEHY: That`s the first time I`ve seen it.

BECK: What has -- You`ve never seen any of it?

DENNEHY: No.

BECK: What the heck has happened to Hollywood where it doesn`t even seem to -- I keep wondering why aren`t people going to movies? It seems obvious.

DENNEHY: Well, there`s two emotions. This is not something I devised. There are two emotions which dominate in Hollywood, fear and greed. And fear seems to be on the rise right now.

Hollywood -- well, they`re terrified of the computer. They`ve been terrified for years of television. Television stomped them around pretty good and then they began to recover from that. Now you`ve got the computer, you`ve got kids who don`t go to the movies. Before, you had kids. At least the kids, young people went to the movies.

But now they have iPods and they have telephones and they have the computer, and they -- you know, they have a life -- things like this -- myspace and stuff like this. They have this completely different life.

It`s all moved in a different direction and Hollywood is still trying to figure it out. So -- and, you know, Hollywood has always been - at least for 30 years has been -- I was lucky enough to be in Hollywood when it just about ended.

BECK: Brian, I hate to cut you off. In fact, can we -- Let`s do an iPod update. I`d love to be able to spend some more time. We`ll do that and you can check out online. Brian Dennehy thanks a lot.

DENNEHY: Pleasure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right, football is back in season. The leaves are getting ready to fall, and for the moment there is very little radiation in the air, so let`s take a deep breath and dip into the e-mail for an "Ask Glenn." It`s much easier to read without the Hazmat suit on.

This one comes from Doug in Iowa. He writes, "Glenn, I know you`re not a TV repair man, but you are a thinker so I hope you can help me out. A few months ago the only thing on TV was how high the gas prices are. Now that they`re falling, I never seem to hear a word about them. There must be something wrong with my TV. Do I have a cable loose or something?"

Doug, actually I think your TV is okay, but first things first, to correspond with federal law, if we are going to talk about gas prices so we have to legally be playing a video of gas station signs that feature really high prices. There it is. Wow, look at those numbers. Huh?

Yes, it does seem like when gas prices are high you see story after story about how regular people were struggling to afford their daily Twinkie and how they are being forced to choose between their gasoline and Lipitor. And now that they`re falling, the political ammunition is gone and so the media doesn`t pay attention because they can`t freak you e out, so that`s why you`re not going to see anything for a while. Wait a minute. Look at those numbers. They just keep getting higher and higher.

Anyway, here are the gas prices over the last few months, and you can pretty much plot the amount of "gas price freak out" stories from the news at the exact same line. Hold on. Can we go back to the video? Good.

Some of the recent fall has to do with speculators that think the Middle East is calming down. Sure, that`s part of it, as misleading as it is, but it goes deeper than that. Tomorrow we`ll give you all the details on the radio and then back here on TV as well. And it`s a fascinating, mind blowing journey of following the money and it all ends up in a place you just might not expect. Unless you`re a loser like me and spent your weekend researching the difference between light sweet and heavy crude. If you`re in that boat, brother, you know nobody really likes you.

But while we have a second, let`s recognize the hap-hap-happy news that gas prices are not only falling, but the Dow is about 200 points from it`s all time end of session high. Hey, Brian Denehy told me to cheer up, so I`m trying.

All right. Let`s go back to Armageddon. Freak out, everybody. We`ll see you back here tomorrow. And before that on the radio program. See you then.

END