by Minister Louis Farrakhan
In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

Derrick Blakely (NBC-Ch. 5): What will your message be for the Arab governments?

Minister Louis Farrakhan (MLF): I would like the Arab nations as a whole to reconcile their differences to become unified because they have no weapons to match the weapons that are arrayed against them. So their unity must be that which is used to promote good and to forbid evil.

Derrick Blakely: And you are concerned that some of the Arab nations may be used to house U.S. forces or U.S. weapons in some kind of attack against Iraq or other Arab nations?

MLF: I wrote a letter to President Bush advising him that I did not think this was a wise policy, that if he did go after Iraq, he would lose the support of the European Union, he would lose the support of the Arab and Muslim world, even Great Britain, I don�t think, will go along with him. And I saw Colin Powell go before Congress to say that America might have to go it alone. If America goes it alone and the world is against her, then her image in the world will be tarnished in a way that I don�t think that she will recover from.

Derrick Blakely: But in particular, are you afraid that the Arab world will not unite, that some Arab nations may be cooperating with the United States in Bush�s effort to unseat Saddam Hussein?

MLF: I don�t think that any Arab Muslim nation will support President Bush in overthrowing Saddam Hussein. It is not Saddam Hussein as a personality, no matter what differences they may have with him. The Iraqi people, since 1991, according to the World Health Organization, have lost over 1.5 million people, over 500,000 children have died since 1991. This no-fly zone, which is not a United Nations function but unilaterally done by Great Britain and the United States, here Saddam Hussein cannot fly his planes in a no-fly zone so how could he threaten any of his neighbors? And certainly he is no threat to the United States of America. So any Arab nation that would go along with President Bush would run the danger of the uprising of the masses of their people. In the end President Bush would lose moderate Arab leadership to more extreme Arab leadership. And maybe that would not be good for the future of America.

Derrick Blakely: You also hope to visit Israel, would you also like to meet with Prime Minister Sharon?

MLF: Yes, of course. You can�t be a peacemaker and only talk to one side.

Derrick Blakely: What would your message be to Prime Minister Sharon?

MLF: I would rather hold that message. I don�t want to give it here; I�d rather give it there. But know that I do desire to talk with him. I do believe that God has put something on my heart to say to him, and I want the privilege of saying it to him, but I also want to meet with Chairman Arafat. I would like to visit the West Bank. I would like to really feel the pain of both sides so that I can be an effective spokesperson for peace.

Derrick Blakely: Are you concerned about the suicide bombers and the continuation of the campaign of the loss of life?

MLF: Of course, I�m concerned. I�m concerned that the despair and hopelessness among the Palestinians has reached that point where they have nothing to fight with. President Arafat is like the warden of a prison and his people are literally convicts. They have no weapons to fight with. The little AK-47s that the Palestinian Authority was allowed to have was to make Arafat a policeman against the anger of his people. And he refuses to be that and so he has failed them, but he has not failed his own people.

Derrick Blakely: Would you urge him and other leaders on the Palestinian side to do what they can to end the Palestinian bombings, the suicide bombings?

MLF: I�m going to urge the government of the United States of America to stand up to her responsibility. The Congress of the United States and the American people give Israel billions of dollars a year. These people are being killed with weapons made in the United States of America. America has to play a proper role, a dispassionate role. America should use the strength of her position to bring both sides to the table to stop the carnage. That is where I�m going to put the pressure. Not on poor people who are suffering, "would you stop fighting?" No. Let�s stop the condition that leads to this madness.

The Palestinian people want what the Israelis want and have�they want a state that is sovereign, they want borders that are secure. They want to be able to be an independent, self-respecting people. There is nothing wrong with that desire. The more that desire is frustrated, the more despair and hopelessness and the more suicide bombings, unfortunately, that we�ll see.

Charles Thomas (ABC-Ch.7): Will you seek to meet with Saddam Hussein?

MLF: Absolutely.

Charles Thomas: In Baghdad?

MLF: Yes.

Charles Thomas: What will you say to him?

MLF: I would like President Saddam Hussein to take every stick out of the administration�s hand. If the UNSCOM inspectors go back in and find nothing, as they were in for eight years and found nothing, what will the administration do? Will the administration say he has fulfilled what we required, so we will not pull the trigger on him? Or will they say, it doesn�t matter what he does, this man is developing weapons of mass destruction therefore he must be eliminated?

Charles Thomas: What about Hamas? In the past you have met with some elements close to Hamas. You�ve talked about that before. Will you meet with Hamas on this trip?

MLF: I will attempt to, yes.

Charles Thomas: How could that happen, or how would that happen? Would you be placing yourself at even greater risk at that point?

MLF: As a Muslim I am deeply hurt to see the loss of life of young Palestinians who are strapping bombs to themselves creating havoc to the Israelis. I know the depth of despair that they have, but I would like to talk to the leadership of Hamas to give them a chance to tell us their view and tell us why they feel this is absolutely necessary because the more it is done, the more pain is inflicted upon the Palestinian people. But, at the same time the whole world is seeing the response of the Israeli government with F-15s, F-16s, helicopter gunships, tanks. The Palestinians have nothing to fight with, so they are fighting with their bodies and using their bodies as weapons against Israeli occupation.

John Davis (CBS Ch. 2): What do you have to offer on this mission?

MLF: I offer the sincerity, the wisdom of a soul that yearns to see the bloodshed stop. Human life is precious, whether it is Palestinian life, or Jewish life, or Asian life, or African life. Life today is not respected; therefore, the giver of life is not respected. So God today is angry, angry at America and angry at the world. All the American people need to do is look at the rise of the calamities inside the country. This should give you a wake up call. Bush is not God; therefore, he should be careful how he leads the nation lest the nation be led into the severe chastisement of God. That is what I think I offer, a sane approach to madness.

John Davis: Obviously, you�re under no illusions about [the safety of the trip]?

MLF: In a day and a time of trouble like there never was since there was a time and a nation, God would cause a man to stand up in that time, not fearing the time or the consequences of the time, but fearing the God. I don�t know if I am that man, but I know that God is pushing me to stand. And I will stand, by the help of God, and urge the American people to stand. Who do I represent? I represent the voiceless Americans�Black and White and Brown and Asian�who want to speak but have no forum in which to speak. I represent the cowardly news reporters and news people that know the truth but don�t have the courage or the will to print it. I represent those cowardly congresspersons that know right from wrong but fear in an hour like this to take a principled stand for justice. I represent a lot of people in America and throughout the world. And as my voice is heard, many will stand and, by the grace of God, we may be able to stop a war and engage the world in a judicial process that will lead to peace.

Alex Alexander (FOX Ch. 12): There are congressmen and senators not only in the President�s party but also in the Democratic Party that say we should go to war and remove Saddam Hussein �?

MLF: But what is the basis? Do you go to war on the basis of truth or on the basis of a lie masquerading as truth? Where is the forum where the truth can be known? Can truth be found on the battlefield? Why should the American soldiers�who are mostly Black, Brown and poor White�be used by the government if the cause is not the protection of liberty, democracy, or the United States? The United States is not under attack. That man (Hussein) has no ability to attack this country. If he used any weapon of mass destruction, he could be wiped out in a twinkling of an eye. Why then would America attack him?

Alex Alexander: A preemptive strike?

MLF: What preemptive strike? Allah says in the Qur�an that He hates the aggressor. Why doesn�t the President come before the American people and prove [Saddam Hussein] is going to make a strike against America? That man can�t even fly his planes in a no-fly zone, how could he be a threat to the government and people of the United States of America. I reject that reasoning; and I want to know who is feeding the President this kind of madness. There is another thought; there is another way; there is a better way. Somebody has to stand up and represent that way, otherwise, [Bush] will lead this nation to its destruction.

Alex Alexander: Can a person go to heaven using a suicide bomb to kill people?

MLF: Can a person go to heaven using an AK-47 in the name of the United States government? Can the president go to heaven sending people to kill people? When you take that question on that level, take it higher. Can a cardinal go to heaven being a pedophile? Can a bishop go to heaven allowing it to go on? Can any of us go to heaven the way we are living? We all have fallen short of the glory of God and therefore all have to repent and bow down, lest the God of heaven, Who is angry, begins to pour out His wrath on the nation.

Alex Alexander: You mentioned the possibility of not two nations after this is over with, not just Israel and not just the state of Palestine, but one nation. How would that work?

MLF: That�s the holy land. The holy land should be populated by the holy people. Muslims, Christians and Jews see that land as sacred. Weapons of war can never make that land secure. It is only Jews living by the statutes and commandments of God; Christians living by the discipline of the teachings of Jesus Christ; and Muslims living by the practice of the sunnah of the Prophet, that is what will produce peace in the area�three people living as one under God.

Chinta Strausberg (Defender newspaper): How can you touch the heart of the warmongers on both sides, some of whom don�t want peace?

MLF: I think both want peace. I think Ariel Sharon, no matter what you think of him, he knows there�s no future in the way they�re going. Arafat wants peace, Sharon wants peace, but they want peace on their own terms. So somebody who is a dispassionate, honest broker needs to step in and help both sides to see beyond where they presently see. That is what I think is the role of the United States of America. If America would play the role of a truly honest broker, she may lift them from their present state of mind and help them to see how to produce a peaceful settlement.

Chinta Strausberg: Why do you think Bush is going after this man (Saddam Hussein)?

MLF: I think you really have to ask President Bush that question because it�s not clear to me that he�s justified in murdering that man, regardless to what he thinks of Saddam Hussein. There are people in America that do not have a good view of President Bush. In fact, he lost the popular vote. So a lot of people don�t have a good view of him. But does anybody have the right to advocate harming him? I don�t think so. Can anybody outside of America justifiably come inside of America and give money to the militia because they�re angry with their government, and use them as a force to overthrow the Government of the United States? Isn�t that considered an act of war? If no other country can do that to America, why must America feel she has the legal right to send money to destabilize other regimes in the world with which she has a disagreement? These policies are wrong and they won�t bring good to the country. That�s why we�re speaking out. We want to see this country safer than what it is.