In a welcome change of pace for MSNBC programming on Tuesday night, liberal primetime host Rachel Maddow was given the night off in favor of NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, who anchored the network’s 9:00 p.m. Eastern coverage of the Paris Islamic terror attacks and closed with a brief but astute commentary on how it’s doubtful that Paris will change the global ISIS strategy.
Engel started the 44-second analysis by alluding to how Friday’s attacks were the worst seen in “the beautiful city of Paris....in its post-war history” before remarking how he hoped that world leaders would come away from “this latest atrocity” with a realization that ISIS will only be defeated if they come together by “push[ing] political and national calculations aside.”
Mincing no words, Engel called on world leaders to more directly engage “a new enemy so vile it is once again an enemy for all of us, an enemy that celebrates death over life, an enemy that is enshrined slave owning as a religious right.”
Posing a question to himself, the NBC correspondent wondered: “The question is: Has ISIS killed enough to unite Russia and the U.S., France and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran in a battle against it?”
Not surprisingly, Engel observed that: “The answer, sadly, is probably not, but hey, this is Paris. One can dream.”
While long-time readers of this site will likely remember that Engel was a constant and harsh critic of the Bush administration, frequent visitors here will also recall that the NBC News chief foreign correspondent has been an equally constant and consistent voice opposed to the Obama administration’s foreign policy (and most recently ripping their failed ISIS strategy). With that in mind, this writer will give credit where credit is due.
The relevant portion of the transcript from MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show on November 17 can be found below.
MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show
November 17, 2015
9:59 p.m. Eastern
RICHARD ENGEL: Four days ago, this beautiful city of Paris suffered the worst attack in its post-war history and tonight, standing here at the Place de Republic, [I] wonder if this latest atrocity will be enough to push political and national calculations aside and persuade governments all over the world to come together and fight a new enemy so vile it is once again an enemy for all of us, an enemy that celebrates death over life, an enemy that is enshrined slave owning as a religious right. The question is: Has ISIS killed enough to unite Russia and the U.S., France and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran in a battle against it? The answer, sadly, is probably not, but hey, this is Paris. One can dream.
