01-06-2010, 10:29 PM
Helen Thomas Asks White House Press Secretary Gibbs About Israeli Flotilla Massacre: "Why didn't you immediately condemn it?"
Submitted by Chip on Tue, 2010-06-01 19:16 The following exchange happened today between White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and veteran reporter Helen Thomas as broadcast on MSNBC.
Helen Thomas: Our initial reaction to the flotilla massacre, deliberate massacre, an international crime, was pitiful. What do you mean, “You regret…” when something should be so strongly condemned. And, if any other nation in the world had done it, we would have been up in arms. What is this sacrosanct, iron-clad relationship where a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts – and we aid and abet the boycott?
Gibbs: Look, I think the initial reaction regretted the loss of life, as we tried, and still continue to try to gather the relevant (muffled comment by Thomas)...nothing can bring them back, Helen, we know that for sure because I think if you could, that wouldn’t be up for debate. We believe that a credible and transparent investigation has to look into the facts and, as I said earlier, we are open to international participation.
Thomas: Why did you think of it so late? Why didn’t you immediately condemn it?
Gibbs: Again, I think that the statements that we released speak directly to that.
Submitted by Chip on Tue, 2010-06-01 19:16 The following exchange happened today between White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and veteran reporter Helen Thomas as broadcast on MSNBC.
Helen Thomas: Our initial reaction to the flotilla massacre, deliberate massacre, an international crime, was pitiful. What do you mean, “You regret…” when something should be so strongly condemned. And, if any other nation in the world had done it, we would have been up in arms. What is this sacrosanct, iron-clad relationship where a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts – and we aid and abet the boycott?
Gibbs: Look, I think the initial reaction regretted the loss of life, as we tried, and still continue to try to gather the relevant (muffled comment by Thomas)...nothing can bring them back, Helen, we know that for sure because I think if you could, that wouldn’t be up for debate. We believe that a credible and transparent investigation has to look into the facts and, as I said earlier, we are open to international participation.
Thomas: Why did you think of it so late? Why didn’t you immediately condemn it?
Gibbs: Again, I think that the statements that we released speak directly to that.
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