Bruce Willis offers $1 Million for Saddam's capture
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 9:53 am
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Bruce Willis Pledges Cash to Capture Saddam
Saturday, October 04, 2003
This is a partial transcript from The O'Reilly Factor, October 1, 2003.
Watch The O'Reilly Factor weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the Radio Factor!
BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In our second Personal Story segment tonight, actor Bruce Willis (search) has just returned from Iraq, where his band, the Accelerators (search), entertained the troops. While over there, Mr. Willis offered a million dollars of his own money to the people who capture Saddam. Bruce Willis joins us now from Washington.
Wow. A million bucks. What did you learn over there?
BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: Well, I saw a humanitarian effort that I don't see in any of the newspapers here back home, Mr. O'Reilly.
O'REILLY: Can you describe what you saw?
WILLIS: What I saw was the military helping to get schools back open, helping to get hospitals back open, helping to get the power turned back on, working in the field to help get the Iraqi people back on their feet.
O'REILLY: Now, what was the -- were you in Baghdad (search), or were you out in the countryside?
WILLIS: I was not in Baghdad.
O'REILLY: OK.
WILLIS: I was in Mosul (search). I was in Kuwait (search). I was in some places that may not even appear on the map.
O'REILLY: So you were out in what they call the bush, even though...
WILLIS: In the dirt, yes. In the dirt.
O'REILLY: What did you observe about the rapport between U.S. forces and the local people, the local Iraqis?
WILLIS: There's a great rapport. I mean, obviously, there's still, you know, conflicts going on there. One of the things that the military feels, I think, is that what's happening right now, the guys that are, you know, still firing RPGs at, you know, the APCs and humvees, are actually from other countries right now. You know, they're really -- less and less of it is coming from, you know, inside of Iraq.
O'REILLY: But the regular folks you saw, the Iraqi people, they seem to...
WILLIS: They were happy to have the military there.
O'REILLY: They were friendly to them.
WILLIS: Yes.
O'REILLY: Do you think you were managed over there and just shown things that would leave that impression? Did you get the feeling the bad stuff was maybe...
WILLIS: Not at all. Not at all. I actually asked to go into places where I probably shouldn't have been. But, no, I don't feel like it was managed at all.
O'REILLY: So, from your vantage point, you saw some good that the U.S. is doing, yet...
WILLIS: I saw a lot of good.
O'REILLY: You don't read about that in the L.A.Times or The New York Times.
WILLIS: You don't read about it anywhere in the United States. And I was actually watching, you know, the news here in Washington last night, and it's -- it's just baffling to me that after we've, you know, successfully taken down a known gangster, known terrorist, who was in power in this country for 30 years, that anyone would suggest that we just abandon, you know, the Iraqi people now. It's just crazy to me.
O'REILLY: No. It is.
Now, you offered a million dollars of your own money to the guys who get Saddam Hussein. You might have to pay that because...
WILLIS: They'll get it. You heard about that. Well, fortunately, and maybe unfortunately, the military themselves are unable to collect on that. If that...
O'REILLY: I'm going over with my guys from Long Island now and we're going...
WILLIS: Good deal for you. You could actually pick up the check. But if it does happen through military sources, I would -- I intend to donate the money to either a school or a hospital.
O'REILLY: You should. Hospital, U.F.O. -- U.S.O., I should say. U.F.O., I don't know what I'm talking about.
WILLIS: That's OK.
O'REILLY: Now, in the world that you live in, the show business world, you're in a minority here by going over there. I have a list of some other stars who have gone over there. Drew Carey (search) went over, Roger Clemens (search) went over, Wayne Newton (search), Paul Rodriguez (search), but most of it is sniping at the government, and even at the military. They say we support our military, but every two minutes you hear another negative coming out of there. How do you react to that?
WILLIS: I would like to -- I would like to suggest that anybody who is, as you say, sniping at the government to, you know, go over there themselves and see what I saw. I didn't hear one complaint from anyone in the military over there, and these guys are out there living in the dirt. They had great spirits, great morale. Had the opportunity to walk through Walter Reed hospital yesterday and see some of the, you know, some of the young kids who had come back.
O'REILLY: The wounded guys.
WILLIS: Yes, sir.
O'REILLY: Do you engage your peers in a debate on this? Say you're on a movie set and there was Sean Penn (search) or Kevin Bacon (search). I mention them because they're in a new movie upcoming. Say you were on a set with them, would you debate them about this?
WILLIS: No. I don't really feel the need to debate it. I believe the United States, everybody is certainly entitled to their own opinion, and as I am entitled to mine. I just happen to be patriotic and I'm very happy to see that, you know, the United States was able to come in and, you know, take down Saddam Hussein.
O'REILLY: Did the weapons of mass destruction controversy bother you at all?
WILLIS: I don't think that's what it's about. I think this is about a war on terrorism. And it's about trying to stabilize Iraq. Stabilize the Middle East, which, God knows, could use some stabilization. And it is about a war on terror. I don't -- I don't know. Maybe people have a short memory, but the memory of those people forced to jump out of the World Trade Center will forever be etched in my memory.
O'REILLY: They'll say, the opponents, they'll say Saddam had nothing to do with that.
WILLIS: Well, they're certainly entitled to that opinion as well. I see Saddam Hussein as a gangster and a terrorist who raped his own country for 30 years, and to simply abandon Iraq now would be a crime.
O'REILLY: Even Howard Dean and the others say, you know, we can't do that. No level-headed-thinking person is. By taking this stance, are you going to lose jobs in Hollywood? Are people not going to talk to you in [the L.A. restaurant] Spago (search)? Will you get stuff thrown at you?
WILLIS: I don't think I'll have anything thrown at me. If so, I grew up in New Jersey so...
O'REILLY: You could always go back there.
WILLIS: Yes.
O'REILLY: Your father was a military guy. Did that shape your thinking?
WILLIS: No. I -- I just grew up, you know, being patriotic. I love this country. And it is -- look, it's an election year, and there are a lot of people out there that are jockeying to get their guy, you know, to get a new guy in the White House, and I think that the commander in chief is doing a really, you know, great job.
O'REILLY: You know, the other side would say, look, I'm patriotic because I'm dissenting against the policy I feel is bad for America. They would say that.
WILLIS: And what policy would that be? Would you be able to actually...
O'REILLY: Sure. I hear it every day. The policy that we should have gone in with the United Nations, waited, not spent all the money, we're the big bully on the block. That's basically it in a nutshell.
WILLIS: Well, I don't know anybody who's pro-terrorism except for terrorists, and I am certainly anti-terrorism. And I think that this war on terrorism is -- has long been overdue. You know, long before 9/11, if you look at countries like, you know, Sarajevo, Beirut.
O'REILLY: No question stabilization has to occur. Mr. Willis, we appreciate it.
WILLIS: Thank you very much.
O'REILLY: Thanks for going over to see the guys and the ladies over there. It was nice of you to do that.
WILLIS: Thanks for having me on the show.
O'REILLY: I'm sure they appreciated you being there.
WILLIS: Thank you, sir.
Bruce Willis Pledges Cash to Capture Saddam
Saturday, October 04, 2003
This is a partial transcript from The O'Reilly Factor, October 1, 2003.
Watch The O'Reilly Factor weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the Radio Factor!
BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In our second Personal Story segment tonight, actor Bruce Willis (search) has just returned from Iraq, where his band, the Accelerators (search), entertained the troops. While over there, Mr. Willis offered a million dollars of his own money to the people who capture Saddam. Bruce Willis joins us now from Washington.
Wow. A million bucks. What did you learn over there?
BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: Well, I saw a humanitarian effort that I don't see in any of the newspapers here back home, Mr. O'Reilly.
O'REILLY: Can you describe what you saw?
WILLIS: What I saw was the military helping to get schools back open, helping to get hospitals back open, helping to get the power turned back on, working in the field to help get the Iraqi people back on their feet.
O'REILLY: Now, what was the -- were you in Baghdad (search), or were you out in the countryside?
WILLIS: I was not in Baghdad.
O'REILLY: OK.
WILLIS: I was in Mosul (search). I was in Kuwait (search). I was in some places that may not even appear on the map.
O'REILLY: So you were out in what they call the bush, even though...
WILLIS: In the dirt, yes. In the dirt.
O'REILLY: What did you observe about the rapport between U.S. forces and the local people, the local Iraqis?
WILLIS: There's a great rapport. I mean, obviously, there's still, you know, conflicts going on there. One of the things that the military feels, I think, is that what's happening right now, the guys that are, you know, still firing RPGs at, you know, the APCs and humvees, are actually from other countries right now. You know, they're really -- less and less of it is coming from, you know, inside of Iraq.
O'REILLY: But the regular folks you saw, the Iraqi people, they seem to...
WILLIS: They were happy to have the military there.
O'REILLY: They were friendly to them.
WILLIS: Yes.
O'REILLY: Do you think you were managed over there and just shown things that would leave that impression? Did you get the feeling the bad stuff was maybe...
WILLIS: Not at all. Not at all. I actually asked to go into places where I probably shouldn't have been. But, no, I don't feel like it was managed at all.
O'REILLY: So, from your vantage point, you saw some good that the U.S. is doing, yet...
WILLIS: I saw a lot of good.
O'REILLY: You don't read about that in the L.A.Times or The New York Times.
WILLIS: You don't read about it anywhere in the United States. And I was actually watching, you know, the news here in Washington last night, and it's -- it's just baffling to me that after we've, you know, successfully taken down a known gangster, known terrorist, who was in power in this country for 30 years, that anyone would suggest that we just abandon, you know, the Iraqi people now. It's just crazy to me.
O'REILLY: No. It is.
Now, you offered a million dollars of your own money to the guys who get Saddam Hussein. You might have to pay that because...
WILLIS: They'll get it. You heard about that. Well, fortunately, and maybe unfortunately, the military themselves are unable to collect on that. If that...
O'REILLY: I'm going over with my guys from Long Island now and we're going...
WILLIS: Good deal for you. You could actually pick up the check. But if it does happen through military sources, I would -- I intend to donate the money to either a school or a hospital.
O'REILLY: You should. Hospital, U.F.O. -- U.S.O., I should say. U.F.O., I don't know what I'm talking about.
WILLIS: That's OK.
O'REILLY: Now, in the world that you live in, the show business world, you're in a minority here by going over there. I have a list of some other stars who have gone over there. Drew Carey (search) went over, Roger Clemens (search) went over, Wayne Newton (search), Paul Rodriguez (search), but most of it is sniping at the government, and even at the military. They say we support our military, but every two minutes you hear another negative coming out of there. How do you react to that?
WILLIS: I would like to -- I would like to suggest that anybody who is, as you say, sniping at the government to, you know, go over there themselves and see what I saw. I didn't hear one complaint from anyone in the military over there, and these guys are out there living in the dirt. They had great spirits, great morale. Had the opportunity to walk through Walter Reed hospital yesterday and see some of the, you know, some of the young kids who had come back.
O'REILLY: The wounded guys.
WILLIS: Yes, sir.
O'REILLY: Do you engage your peers in a debate on this? Say you're on a movie set and there was Sean Penn (search) or Kevin Bacon (search). I mention them because they're in a new movie upcoming. Say you were on a set with them, would you debate them about this?
WILLIS: No. I don't really feel the need to debate it. I believe the United States, everybody is certainly entitled to their own opinion, and as I am entitled to mine. I just happen to be patriotic and I'm very happy to see that, you know, the United States was able to come in and, you know, take down Saddam Hussein.
O'REILLY: Did the weapons of mass destruction controversy bother you at all?
WILLIS: I don't think that's what it's about. I think this is about a war on terrorism. And it's about trying to stabilize Iraq. Stabilize the Middle East, which, God knows, could use some stabilization. And it is about a war on terror. I don't -- I don't know. Maybe people have a short memory, but the memory of those people forced to jump out of the World Trade Center will forever be etched in my memory.
O'REILLY: They'll say, the opponents, they'll say Saddam had nothing to do with that.
WILLIS: Well, they're certainly entitled to that opinion as well. I see Saddam Hussein as a gangster and a terrorist who raped his own country for 30 years, and to simply abandon Iraq now would be a crime.
O'REILLY: Even Howard Dean and the others say, you know, we can't do that. No level-headed-thinking person is. By taking this stance, are you going to lose jobs in Hollywood? Are people not going to talk to you in [the L.A. restaurant] Spago (search)? Will you get stuff thrown at you?
WILLIS: I don't think I'll have anything thrown at me. If so, I grew up in New Jersey so...
O'REILLY: You could always go back there.
WILLIS: Yes.
O'REILLY: Your father was a military guy. Did that shape your thinking?
WILLIS: No. I -- I just grew up, you know, being patriotic. I love this country. And it is -- look, it's an election year, and there are a lot of people out there that are jockeying to get their guy, you know, to get a new guy in the White House, and I think that the commander in chief is doing a really, you know, great job.
O'REILLY: You know, the other side would say, look, I'm patriotic because I'm dissenting against the policy I feel is bad for America. They would say that.
WILLIS: And what policy would that be? Would you be able to actually...
O'REILLY: Sure. I hear it every day. The policy that we should have gone in with the United Nations, waited, not spent all the money, we're the big bully on the block. That's basically it in a nutshell.
WILLIS: Well, I don't know anybody who's pro-terrorism except for terrorists, and I am certainly anti-terrorism. And I think that this war on terrorism is -- has long been overdue. You know, long before 9/11, if you look at countries like, you know, Sarajevo, Beirut.
O'REILLY: No question stabilization has to occur. Mr. Willis, we appreciate it.
WILLIS: Thank you very much.
O'REILLY: Thanks for going over to see the guys and the ladies over there. It was nice of you to do that.
WILLIS: Thanks for having me on the show.
O'REILLY: I'm sure they appreciated you being there.
WILLIS: Thank you, sir.
