Who Is Ambassador Peck And What Did He Say To Inspire Jeremiah Wright?

In his infamous "Chickens coming home to roost" sermon on Sept 16, 2001, Jeremiah Wright claimed to be quoting, or at least echoing, Edward Peck, a retired Carter-era Ambassador to Iraq, in an appearance on Fox News:

I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday, did anybody else see him or hear him? He was on Fox News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the Fox News commentators to no end. He pointed out, did you see him John, a white man, and he pointed out, an ambassador, that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammed was in fact true, America’s chickens are coming home to roost....

We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South  Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now  brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to  roost.

Alan Colmes of Fox News discounted this:

COLMES: Over the course of the past few months it's been alleged that the sound bite played on television is unfair because it doesn't include Wright's disclaimer right afterwards that he was quoting of Ed Peck in an interview from September 15th, 2001 right here on the FOX News channel.

But "Hannity & Colmes" can report exclusively tonight that after reviewing the Peck interview Peck never used the phrase "chickens coming home to roost" and that Wright went further in criticizing U.S. policy than Peck did in his interview on FOX.

So if Peck didn't say what Wright insinuates, are the ideas expressed in the sermon really Wright's or were they therefore taken out of context?

But if Mr. Colmes told us what Ambassador Peck actually did say, I can't find it.

And apparently, although the Hounds of Lexis have been loosed, no one can find the Sept 15 discussion in question.

However, Wright seems to be at least partly right here - the NewsHounds have found two cites confirming a peck appearance on Fox similar to what Wright described.  First, a Paul Krassner, writing on Sept 15:

On the Fox News Network, Edward Peck, former ambassador to Iraq, was an unusually outspoken guest. He said the terrorists acted as they did not because America is a freedom loving country, but because they feel the U.S. has been treating them the same way throughout the years--bombing Iraq for the last ten years whenever they felt like it--and adding to the list (Take Panama, take Haiti, take Cambodia) before he was cut off and dismissed.

Secondly, the always-reliable, gold-plated, take to the bank anonymous Yahoo poster:

Did anyone else catch this on Sat.? Peck has served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, I don't recall when. Channel 5 made the mistake of bringing him on as a talking head.  He said the U.S. never slammed a plane into thousands of innocent civilians because the U.S. didn't have to.  He said the U.S. in its war against terror had better start respecting others' rights.  He said the no-fly zone in Iraq was not in the UN agreement that ended Desert Storm; it was simply imposed by the U.S. and "the former Great Britain."  He said the U.S. lawlesly imposed its will on Panama, Granada and Haiti.  The Ch. 5 guy got on his high horse and said people like Chamberlain in WW II had followed the letter of the law and let the madman Hitler go on, but Peck stuck to his guns.  He must figure he's old now and will risk his life to speak the truth -- a sentiment I well understand.

Leaving us where?  Fox really ought to release a transcript of Peck's Sept 15 appearance (and what kind of a Right Wing Noise Machine are we if we can't even get a little cooperation from Fox?).  My bet is that Peck mentioned neither Malcolm X nor roosting chickens, but did express the notion that we brought this upon ourselves.  And the two sources above cite Panama, Haiti, Cambodia, and Granada but omit the Sioux, the Apache, the slave trade, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Libya, the Sudan, Palestinians, and Black South Africans; if the Ambassador omitted most of that list I will concur with Mr. Colmes that Wright extrapolated freely (and let's note that Peck is a Carter guy, so support for the Palestinians may well have been included).  As to the Lexis failure, well, it's baffling.

And what is up with Wright's emphasis that Peck was a white guy?  Is there a world in which almost all whites are warmongers, and all blacks are anti-war?  A real world, I mean, not WrightWorld.

Comments

[Gmax]

Peck if I am remembering correctly, served under Jimmy Carter. That should be warning sign number one. But I have heard Peck say some very disgusting things, enough that if I see him on a channel, I keep surfing now so he may well have served up something like this along with a healthy helping of Israel bashing, another CARTER/PECK specialty.

[RichatUF]

Found the wiki for Amb. Peck, right here with a clue. See talk, re: Wright on Peck

Roland Martin was trying to douce the fire back on March 21 on his blog at CNN...

One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News. That’s what he told the congregation.

And Sweetness & Light picked up the trail on March 22nd...

[Kazinski]

So what if Peck said it first? If Peck is a anti-American lunatic, and Wright agree's with Peck, doesn't that make Wright an anti-American lunatic? Just because someone else said it first, does not give Wright a free pass. If Wright was quoting someone else approvingly when he said "God Damn America" does that somehow make his remarks more palatable? I don't think so. You can escape the heat when quoting someone else by condeming the quote, when you approve of the quote you are jumping in the hot water with them.

[TMF]

THe "Chickens" quote was widely used by Wrights hero, Malcolm X

He can bullshit all he wants that he "got it from Peck" but we know which way the wind blows

[RichatUF]

Ward Chruchill got this rolling with his Sept 12 essay...humm...I'm trying to see if I can find something from the Iraq foreign ministry from the relevant timeframe as I see emanations from that direction...

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

I also don't care who Wright borrowed the phrase from, but here's Peck (after being pressed) saying he doesn't consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

He's just another sophomoric former diplomat. Who, btw, was our Ambassador to Iraq when Saddam invaded Iran in 1980.

[megapotamus]

This Peck thing looks to be the only media event of the last 10 years that is not available in the original in some venue. Weird. Yes, the VRWC has been falling down on the record keeping. But if Peck is all he seems to be, it would be a simple matter to knock on his door or ring him up. Certainly he will be more circumspect at this point but losers like this cannot help themselves. Like with Wright himself, it is perpetually the ME Decade.

[vnjagvet]

Anti-American is a touch strong, but not more than a touch.

There is a strong strain of leftward-leaning, anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian churchpeople throughout "Mainline" Christendom. The World Council of Churches, of which most mainline protestant denomninations are members, often espouses such views.

This body, much like the UN is not particularly receptive to aggressive US action, unless that action is of the Tsunami aid type.

Frankly, the non-racial part of Wright's message is pretty standard fare in many US congregations on Sunday morning, as is the Peck point of view.

To me, it is the overt "bash whitey" message that is more damaging to BHO than anything else. He has been consistently anti-Iraq war and pro-diplomacy, and that has been what got him his early lead. But that was attractively delivered from a seemingly aracial perspective.

The demeanor BHO displayed with Chris Wallace last Sunday plays very well to the "muddled middle". The demeanor displayed by Pastor Wright, not so much.

BHO's best play here would be to buy time on all networks for a one hour "full and frank" interview session one on one with Wright. Were he to do this, he could contrast his "reasonable" self with the far more out there Wright. Then "let the jury decide".

[hrtshpdbox]

"First, a Paul Krassner, writing on Sept 15:"
"A" Paul Krassner, or "the" one (founder of the Yippees and all-around 60's radical provacateur)? Just a wonderin' (as other aspects of the Wright story seems to get exponentially weirder).

[Danube of Thought]

That Paul Krassner fellow is an ancient leftist (born well before John McCain) of the first water. I remember him as publisher of "The Realist" back before the sixties even began.

I could swear that I'd seen a clip of Peck's Fox remarks--maybe even on Fox itself--within the past 24 hours. It struck me as routine Carteresque bilge, but nothing approaching Wright's version.

[narciso]

Peck is doing the 'funky chicken' because the inanity of his comments are coming to light. But a sometime truther, suckling pig
at the Saudi teet at the Middle East Inst., along with "Noodlehead" Ned Walker,apologist
for the PLO, and jihadists along with Chas.
Freeman,Joe Wilson,Richard Murphy et al.
Realize that was Peck's first reaction
along with Moore, Maher, Stone, after a decent interval. In retrospect, it's notable that Wright would take this tack; while Ground Zero was still burning!!!but notsurprising. In this context, it's not surprising that Wright's recent screed came in Detroit; a tableau that would scare off as hardy a soul as Hieronymous Bosch. The
painter, not the police detective of the same name. As for the National Press Club, I think they would give Satan a 'softball'
interview. God, they're worse than useless.

[memomachine]

Hmmm.

"I could swear that I'd seen a clip of Peck's Fox remarks--maybe even on Fox itself--within the past 24 hours. It struck me as routine Carteresque bilge, but nothing approaching Wright's version."

Yes they showed a clip on Hannity & Colmes.

Basically Peck wasn't saying that America deserved to be attacked because of our foreign policy. He was saying that they, the jihadists, believed that they were right to attack us because of their perception of our foreign policy.

I.e. the jihadists were justifying their attacks based on our foreign policy. Peck made efforts to show that he didn't agree or disagree with that point of view and that he was trying to explain their point of view.

...

IMO nothing near what Wright was pushing.

[Thomas Collins]

Maybe someone will ask B_O about Peck and chickens at B_O's Wright press conference.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/A_big_press_conference_on_Wright.html

[Cecil Turner]

Well, after watching that clip Patrick posted, I'd believe Peck said anything. Based on that discussion of Hezbollah (and the comparison to OSS), apparently he doesn't ascribe to the State Department's definition of terrorism:

the term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents

Bet he fit right in with Carter's foreign policy gurus. (Not that that excuses Wright.)

[ParseThis]

According to Wikipedia, Peck is yet another freakish product of our military and got his start in the Nixon administration, which means he has ties to Pat Buchanan and Billy Graham. There's also the quote:

— they asked us to come up with a definition of terrorism that could be used throughout the government. We produced about six, and each and every case, they were rejected, because careful reading would indicate that our own country had been involved in some of those activities.

I'd like to know who in the Reagan administration could possibly judge American actions to ever meet any definition of terrorism. A different time I suppose. Could lead to some further interesting ties though.

[Cecil Turner]

Peck is yet another freakish product of our military and got his start in the Nixon administration

Per FEC spy, he's a Kerry and D'Amato supporter (strange combo).

I'd like to know who in the Reagan administration could possibly judge American actions to ever meet any definition of terrorism.

The standard definition doesn't apply to countries (for good reason); so probably not. It's instructive that Mr Peck feels a need to talk around the issue and deny there is a definition . . . doubtless so he can avoid calling obvious terrorists by their proper name.

[Elroy Jetson]

What is up with Wright's emphasis on Peck being a white guy?
That is the lens through which he sees everything. The Rev is a racist.

[narciso]

Well he seemed to have settled down into a reliable Arabist, despite his more unconventional background as a paratrooper; whose solution is "Let the Arabs kill the Jews", his endorsement of Walt&Meirsheimer's
"The Israeli Lobby", his support of Hezbollah, indicate this tendency:
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2007/02/25/us-rep-joe-sestak-to-speak-at-cair-philly-banquet-with-edward-peck-who-met-with-me-terrorists-on-cni-political-pil> this is him with CAIR flunky fmr. Admiral Sestak, on a tour of the Middle East last year. As far as his management style, this should give you an idea:http://www.
americanthinker.com/blog/2006/07/more_on_ed_peck.htmlhttp://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2006/07/more_on_ed_peck.html> Here's his Truther bona fides:http://www.
patriotsquestion911.com/Article%20State%20Dept%20911.pdf> & http://www.reopen
911.org/ReOpen911_2007Archive/index.htm> As they say, it's not a bug, it's a feature:

[kim]

Why did the chicken cross the road? Obviously, to come home to roost.
==================

[AD]

Some people are missing the point...look at Rev. Wrights opening statement from the sermon:

I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday, did anybody else see him or hear him? He was on Fox News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the Fox News commentators to no end. He pointed out, did you see him John, a white man, and he pointed out, an ambassador, that what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammed was in fact true, America’s chickens are coming home to roost....

Look at it in context - "He (Peck) pointed out (what?), an ambassador, that what 'Malcolm X SAID when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammed was in fact true, American's Chickens are coming home to roost <<

[AD]

What is up with Wright's emphasis on Peck being a white guy?
That is the lens through which he sees everything. The Rev is a racist.

Posted by: Elroy Jetson | April 29, 2008 at 10:19 PM

>>he pointed that out so no one could subscribe that "he" was the one who said those comments which the media did anyways..

[Anyway]

Obama is 100% responsible for what his Pastor quoted from another guy on TV. End of story!

[A friend of America]

Americans are more israelians that any others israeli citizens !

Hizbullah is a terrorist (i don't support them anyway)? so what to say about israeli founders (menahem and others) they came to palestine like refugees saying that they escaped from Nazists and they receive weapons and start bombing british army, hotel king david etc... They acted in palestine like nazists killing, genocide, camps, tortures etc...
Each one who try to defend himself against Jews internatianal is becoming a Terrorist ! It means let the jews kill !

Who is a terrorist ? the one who use aircraft, tank in occupied territories againt civilians ? or the one who is trying to defend those civilians ? Ask yourself, use your brain and stop swallowing the bullshit from the judeo-nazist lobby and political slaves (quote torture israel ="rabin Yeshayahou Leibowitz !")

I hope that israelian and palestinian peopole find a way very soon to live in peace and start to understant that america is using the situation in the mideast for it own interest (master card) wich is not interest of the jews, perse and arabs !

Another wish for america is to understand that She must focus on what is going on in america (poverty, decease, protection, economy, lower education, racisme, religous integrisme (gospels talibans), separatisme, start to put money aside and stop borowing money that american has no ability to give back otherwise China and Saudi will buy your country... )

A friend of America,

[battery]

I think you are exactly right.

[sophy]

We all love game, if you want to play it, please buy cheap knight gold and join us.