On Wednesday’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was "honored" to give former Ambassador Edward Peck, who has a history of making controversial statements in his pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activism, an unchallenged forum to give "witness testimony" and complain about the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla of ships, one of which carried Peck as a passenger. The former ambassador, who was on a different ship than the one where extreme violence erupted, portrayed the violent mob that attacked lightly armed Israeli commandos as defending themselves with justification against the Israelis. Peck: "Now, the people on board didn`t want to have the ship taken over, and they certainly did not want to go to Israel, so they resisted. Now, if you want to call them attacking these peace-loving soldiers, that seems to be a twisting of the language beyond belief. They were defending the ship."
Olbermann at one point complained about political pressure in America to support everything that Israel does: "It seems as if there`s only, there are only two positions being offered now. Either you support the Israeli government in all things, uniformly, they can do whatever they want, they could do whatever they wanted to in this situation, or somehow you don`t support the state of Israel`s existence. This has been drawn that dramatically."
As for Peck’s history of controversial statements, when he appeared on FNC during the war in Lebanon in 2006, he asserted that he did not consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization and suggested a moral equivalence between American troops fighting in Europe during World War II, and Hezbollah members fighting against Israel. Peck, from 2006: "Well, a terrorist organization is in the eye of the beholder. You have to understand, now. We parachuted people into Europe for World War II. ... Their job was to kill Germans. Now, were they terrorists or heroes?"
When pressed on whether believed Hezbollah was a terrorist organization, he responded: "No, I think it has objectives to which we object very strongly. And some of them are bloody. But other people are doing things quite similar to that."
Peck has been known to take part in pro-Palestinian conferences appearing with such controversial anti-Israel activists as Norman Finkelstein, who himself is known for erupting into anti-Semitic and anti-America 
As Olbermann set up the interview, he missed the point that the likely goal of some of the flotilla backers was to incite the international community to pressure Israel into ending its blockade, thus making it easier for Hamas to receive arms shipments in the future. After showing a soundbite of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defending the necessity of a blockade to prevent weapon smuggling, the MSNBC host added: "But whether there was anything carried aboard those ships other than aid to Gaza is in dispute."
The Countdown host also took exception with Senator John McCain’s charge that President Obama had invited such challenges of Israel by insisting on a freeze in construction in Jewish settlements. After a clip of McCain criticizing Obama, Olbermann responded: "You want a stretch, that's the man to go to."
The interview concluded with Peck and Olbermann declaring that they were "honored" to meet each other:
EDWARD PECK: I`m honored. Thank you, sir.
KEITH OLBERMANN: We`re honored.
Below is a complete transcript of the segment and relevant plugs from the Wednesday, June 2, Countdown show on MSNBC, followed by a transcript of the relevant portion of Peck’s appearance on FNC in 2006:
#From the June 2, 2010, Countdown show on MSNBC:
KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: Gaza unravels. Flotilla protestors deported by Israel, Britain`s envoy Tony Blair tells Jerusalem the blockade must end. The Israelis concede nothing. Our guest, former ambassador, former Reagan administration terrorism task force member, Edward Peck, who was on one of the flotilla ships and who disputes Israel`s version of events.
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OLBERMANN, BEFORE COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 8:28 P.M.: The retired career U.S. diplomat, former chief of mission in Baghdad who was on board one of the ships running the Gaza blockade. Ambassador Edward Peck`s witness testimony, ahead here on Countdown.
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OLBERMANN, TEASING SEGMENT AT 8:31 P.M.: Ambassador Edward Peck just back from Gaza, and the latest on a situation getting more complicated by the hour, next.
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OLBERMANN, BEFORE COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 8:34 P.M.: Back to real life`s nightmares; both the current and former prime ministers of England call for the end of the Gaza blockade, as does Congressman Barney Frank. Our guest just back from the events there, former Ambassador Edward Peck, next.
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OLBERMANN: Even if it were possible to extract the ugly politics from it, the latest flashpoint in the Middle East has succeeded in making all parties furious and defensive. In our third story, the Israeli raid, with Israel threatening action against another pending sea ship into Gaza, and President Obama`s critics trying to use the U.S. reaction against him. Edward Peck, the former U.S. diplomat who was aboard one of those six ships, will join me in a moment. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again defended Saturday`s raid, which carried humanitarian aid – the ships did – as well as pro-Palestinian activists, to Gaza. The prime minister saying, quote, "It is our duty and our responsibility, according to international law and common sense, to prevent by air, sea and land the smuggling of weapons into Gaza."
But whether there was anything carried aboard those ships other than aid to Gaza is in dispute. And today, the U.N. Human Rights Council, by a vote of 32 to three, authorized an international probe into the incident. Saturday`s raid killed nine activists. Hundreds more taken into Israeli custody, though today Israel deported at least a large number of those activists without pursuing prosecution. The Israeli government maintains that its troops acted in self-defense after being attacked by passengers with knives and clubs. But witnesses from the ships claim otherwise, like Shane Dylan, an Irish citizen aboard one of them, who said that Israeli forces launched an assault. Quoting, "They attacked us in international waters." Another passenger saying, quote, "We were not armed. We did not go there to fight." Today, Israel began transferring the cargo it unloaded from the ships to Gaza and its government maintains that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza on a regular basis by land. Meantime, the deliberately measured reaction from the Obama administration might be pleasing nobody. But it is probably a stretch to say that the incident itself was, in any way, the President`s fault.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): This is another step in a chain of unfortunate events beginning with President Obama`s insistence that there be a freeze as a precondition for peace talks, a freeze on settlements in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not a settlement.
OLBERMANN: You want a stretch, that’s the man to go to. Meanwhile, from Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, "We have to ask if the Obama administration remains committed to the state of Israel, and the right of Israel to exist and defend herself. Signals of weakness in coming to Israel`s defense will only lead to further aggression." As promised, let`s turn now to the former United States chief of mission in Baghdad, and former deputy director of President Reagan`s White House Task Force on Terrorism, Edward Peck. Ambassador Peck, thanks for your time tonight.
EDWARD PECK, FORMER AMBASSADOR: I`m honored.
OLBERMANN: You were on one of those six ships. Describe what you saw, please.
PECK: We were on a small ship of 54 people, 30 meters long. And the Israelis boarded us by stepping off the deck of their boat onto the deck of our boat, and we looked up and there they were, you know, they were in the room with us, if you will, armed. They had the balaclava masks on, which they kept on the whole time. And the struggle where I was over when it started. Our instructions were to provide passive resistance by getting in the way or blocking access. But it was too late. The people on the upper deck went in to occupy the wheelhouse, so that the Israeli soldiers could not get in there, and were forcibly removed. Several people had wrenched arms and twisted necks and, you know, some scars and bruises and arms in slings afterwards and everything. There was no killing. And there was no – one stun grenade was set off, stunning one of our people. But the struggle was brief, and it was over rather quickly, with no critical injuries.
OLBERMANN: The points of contention here, whether there were passengers armed on your ship or other ones, and what kind of weapons the Israelis had as they boarded. Can you speak to either of those questions?
PECK: Well, I can speak to it as far as my ship was concerned. And nobody had any arms of any kind whatsoever that I ever saw, and never displayed any. The Israelis came in in helmets and their combat suits. They carried machine guns, you know, and pistols, and stun grenades and things like that. And a couple of them had paintball guns. Two of the paint balls hit one of the members of our party, a gentleman named Joe Medors, who was a wounded veteran on the USS Liberty when the Israelis attacked that in the `67 war, if you remember, killing and wounding over 200 American servicemen on a U.S. Navy ship. So on the other ships, I don`t know what they had.
What I have found interesting, however, is how words get twisted. Here was the big ship that we`re looking at now on your screen, which was in international waters with 600 passengers on board, men and women, and Israeli commandos come to attack the ship, take the ship over, take command of the ship, and bring it into Israel. Now, the people on board didn`t want to have the ship taken over, and they certainly did not want to go to Israel, so they resisted. Now, if you want to call them attacking these peace loving soldiers, that seems to be a twisting of the language beyond belief. They were defending the ship. They didn`t come after the Israelis. The Israelis came after them. So it`s upside down. It`s backwards, if you will, because they were in a defense mode, not an attacking mode.
OLBERMANN: To some degree, has the political equation here also been a question of words being turned on their head? Because it seems as if there`s only, there are only two positions being offered now. Either you support the Israeli government in all things, uniformly, they can do whatever they want, they could do whatever they wanted to in this situation, or somehow you don`t support the state of Israel`s existence. This has been drawn that dramatically. What`s your reaction to that reality of American politics?
PECK: Well, if you want to look at reality, and you`re asking me for my view, let`s, I`ll say this again, because I`ve said it before, no one in his or her right mind, and I recognize that not everybody qualifies, wants a bad thing to happen to one Israeli or one Palestinian or one American. But the sad truth of the matter is that bad things have happened, are happening, and will happen to all three groups because of what is going on in Palestine and Gaza, and what isn`t going on in Palestine and Gaza. And backing Israel is one thing. Backing Israel in everything she does is not only very bad for us, it`s very bad for Israel.
OLBERMANN: Edward Peck, former United States chief of mission in Baghdad, just back from Gaza and the events on the ships. Great thanks for your time and your insights, sir.
PECK: I`m honored. Thank you, sir.
OLBERMANN: We`re honored.
#From FNC in the summer of 2006:
ALYSYN CAMEROTA: And, Mr. Ambassador, you are a diplomat. What would say if you were in the Middle East right now to both sides to keep it from escalating, to keep it from turning into World War III, if you don’t think that that’s where we are?
EDWARD PECK, FORMER AMBASSADOR: Ma’am, it’s a good question. I’m a diplomat. I believe very sincerely, on the basis of my experience and whatever knowledge I have of history, that if there’s a problem between two groups, and they sit down to see if they can eliminate or reduce the problem, they talk about it, there’s a chance that they can achieve that objective. But if they do not talk, there’s no chance.
CAMEROTA: But, Mr. Ambassador, I mean, Hezbollah is bent on, you know, sort of wiping Israel off the map. So what more is there to say?
PECK: Well, and Israel is bent on destroying everybody in Hezbollah, so what is there to say? I mean, there is a middle ground almost always, but you got to talk just like we did to the Russians all during the Cold War, although we knew they could blast us off the face of the Earth at cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: But, Mr. Ambassador, do you believe that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization?
PECK: Well, a terrorist organization is in the eye of the beholder.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Well, I’m asking you.
PECK: Okay, you have to understand, now. We parachuted people into Europe for World War II. You’re too young to remember that. ... Their job was to kill Germans. Now, were they terrorists or heroes?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Well, let’s go back to Hezbollah. Do you think it’s a terrorist organization?
PECK: No, I think it has objectives to which we object very strongly. And some of them are bloody. But other people are doing things quite similar to that.
