"Here is the Nightline transcript which ran the tape of that portion
of North's 1987 testimony:
JOHN DONVAN: An e-mail that's making the rounds these days has an air
of authenticity about it. It is about Oliver North's 1987 nationally televised
testimony before Congress. In tonight's Fact Check, the e-mails quote North
as saying he and his family installed an expensive security system after
they were threatened. "Threatened by whom?" "By a terrorist,
sir." "Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that
much?" "His name is Osama bin Laden, sir." We went into the
tape archives and this is what was really said.
(Beginning of footage from July 8, 1987)
Mr. OLIVER NORTH: The issue of the security system was first broached
immediately after a threat on my life by Abu Nidal. Abu Nidal is, as I'm
sure you on the intelligence committees know, the principal, foremost assassin
in the world today. He is a brutal murderer.
DONVAN: Abu Nidal is thought to be living in Iraq under the protection
of Saddam Hussein.
Nor was it Al Gore who questioned Oliver North. It was committee counsel
John Nields, who is not even a senator. Oliver North responded to the false
email as follows (his caps, not ours):
1. IT WAS THE COMMITTEE COUNSEL, JOHN NIELDS, NOT A SENATOR WHO WAS DOING
THE QUESTIONING.
2. THE SECURITY SYSTEM, INSTALLED AT MY HOME, JUST BEFORE I MADE A VERY
SECRET TRIP TO TEHRAN, COST, ACCORDING TO THE COMMITTEE, $16K, NOT $60K.
3. THE TERRORIST WHO THREATENED TO KILL ME IN 1986, JUST BEFORE THAT
SECRET TRIP TO TEHRAN, WAS NOT USAMA BIN LADEN, IT WAS ABU NIDAL (WHO WORKS
FOR THE LIBYANS -- NOT THE TALIBAN AND NOT IN AFGHANISTAN).
4. I NEVER SAID I WAS AFRAID OF ANYBODY. I DID SAY THAT I WOULD BE GLAD
TO MEET ABU NIDAL ON EQUAL TERMS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD BUT THAT I WAS UNWILLING
TO HAVE HIM OR HIS OPERATIVES MEET MY WIFE AND CHILDREN ON HIS TERMS.
5. I DID SAY THAT THE TERRORISTS INTERCEPTED BY THE FBI ON THE WAY TO
MY HOUSE IN FEB. 87 TO KILL MY WIFE, CHILDREN AND ME WERE LIBYANS, DISPATCHED
FROM THE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE FOR LIBYAN STUDENTS IN MCLEAN, VIRGINIA.
6. AND I DID SAY THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD MOVED MY FAMILY OUT
OF OUR HOME TO A MILITARY BASE (CAMP LEJEUNE, NC) UNTIL THEY COULD DISPATCH
MORE THAN 30 AGENTS TO PROTECT MY FAMILY FROM THOSE TERRORISTS (BECAUSE
A LIBERAL FEDERAL JUDGE HAD ALLOWED THE LYBIAN ASSASSINS TO POST BOND AND
THEY FLED).
7. AND, FYI: THOSE FEDERAL AGENTS REMAINED AT OUR HOME UNTIL I RETIRED
FROM THE MARINES AND WAS NO LONGER A "GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL." BY
THEN, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAD SPENT MORE THAN $2M PROTECTING THE
NORTH FAMILY. THE TERRORISTS SENT TO KILL US WERE NEVER RE-APPREHENDED.
SEMPER FIDELIS,
OLIVER L. NORTH" (TalkLeft,
October 20, 2002)
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