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September 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

Video & Photos: Sarah Palin Interview with Charles Gibson ABC World News 9-11-08 (Part 1)

Sarah Palin interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, September 11, 2008

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s highly anticipated interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson took place on September 11, 2008 in Fairbanks, Alaska. The interview was broadcast on September 11 on ABC World News and ABC Nightline. Charles Gibson will conduct additional interviews to be broadcast on Friday, September 12, 2008 on Good Morning America, ABC World News and 20/20, which will broadcast a one-hour special edition at 10 p.m. ET.

On the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, Gov. Sarah Palin took a hard-line approach on national security and said that war with Russia may be necessary if Georgia were to join NATO and be invaded by Russia.

In her first of three interviews with ABC News’ Charles Gibson and the only interview since being picked by Sen. John McCain as his Republican vice presidential nominee, Palin categorized the Russian invasion of Georgia as “unacceptable” and warned of the threats from Islamic terrorists and a nuclear Iran.

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Palin’s military experience is limited to her gubernatorial role as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard, an organization with fewer members than there are citizens in the town she was mayor.

Sarah Palin interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, September 11, 2008

When Gibson asked her whether that experience was sufficient, Palin said the important experience she brought to the table concerned her work on energy independence.

“Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that’s with the energy independence that I’ve been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States… but I want you to not lose sight of the fact that energy is a foundation of national security. It’s that important. It’s that significant,” she said.

Palin said that she believed a nuclear Iran presented a threat to “everyone in the world” and that if Israel’s existence was threatened by those weapons it had a right to defend itself.

Sarah Palin interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, September 11, 2008

Palin defended a previous statement in which she reportedly characterized the war in Iraq as a “task from God.”

Gibson quoted her as saying: “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.”

But Palin said she was referencing a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln.

“I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words. But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.”

Sarah Palin interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, September 11, 2008

When asked if she believed she was “sending [her] son on a task that is from God,” Palin said: “I don’t know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer.”

Palin agreed in principle to the “Bush doctrine,” the idea that the United States has the right to preemptively strike those another country the U.S. think will attack first.

“Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.

Source: Sarah Palin Defends Experience, Takes Hard Line Approach on National Security

Photo credit: Donna Svennik/ABC