CNN Host Slams Iraq as a War For Oil; Wonders if President was Actually Elected

CNN’s Jack Cafferty, who recently called Donald Rumsfeld a war criminal, chose Election Day to accuse the President of going to war in Iraq for oil and of condoning torture. He also wondered if George Bush was "elected at all." A transcript of the November 7 "Cafferty File" segment is below:

4:15pm EDT

Wolf Blitzer: "Jack Cafferty is here with ‘The Cafferty File.’ Jack?"

Jack Cafferty: "Thank you, Wolf. However today’s election turns out, it’s a safe bet it’s going to be a good long while before anyone successfully pedals a neo-conservative agenda to the American electorate again. George Bush was elected twice by the thinnest of margins, if, in fact, he was elected at all. And, from the start, what we saw wasn’t what we got. President Bush: ‘I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s being called nation building.' That’s exactly what we’re doing in Iraq and it’s not working. Administration officials told us the war in Iraq’s not about the oil. Three and a half years and 3000 American combat deaths later, we’re told it’s about the oil. The President pledged to restore honor and integrity to the Oval Office and then along came Abu Ghraib, secret prisons, outsourcing interrogations, NSA spying, torture and a decline in the reputation of this country worldwide that is unprecedented in our history. These midterm elections could be a tsunami of rejection for the Bush White House and it’s policies, but even if it’s not, it’s likely that the neo-conservative vision is toast, at least for a good long while. Here’s the question: ‘How much damage has the Bush administration’s agenda done to the Republican Party in this country?’ E-mail your thoughts to Caffertyfile@cnn.com or go to CNN.com/Caffertyfile. Wolf?"

Blitzer: "And Jack, throughout the night your going to be reading our viewers’ e-mail and getting some input from them and sharing that with our viewers."

Cafferty: "That’s correct."

Blitzer: "Excellent. Thanks very much, Jack."

Is Jack Cafferty trying to out-Olbermann Olbermann?