Rather Admits CBS Stories on Mayhem Don't Match Reality of Iraq --9/22/2003

1. Rather Admits CBS Stories on Mayhem Don't Match Reality of Iraq
The CBS Evening News, where the stories, self-admittedly, don't match reality. On Friday night, Dan Rather introduced a dire story on how "ordinary Iraqis are faced with an extraordinary surge of crime, banditry and thuggery from carjacking and robbery to kidnapping and murder" resulting "in a population fearful, frustrated, angry and heavily armed." But never mind. After the subsequent story on mayhem in Baghdad, Rather conceded that the report he just aired had distorted the situation: "A reminder that television sometimes has trouble with perspective, so you may want to note that in some areas of Iraq, things are peaceful."

2. "Bush May Have Only Himself to Blame" for Idea of Iraq-9/11 Tie
The networks made a much bigger deal than did newspapers about President Bush's Wednesday comment that "we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th." That night ABC highlighted it, CBS made it the top item in a larger story and NBC and CNN devoted full stories to it. And on Thursday night, CBS followed up with a second story by John Roberts on how "if seven out of ten Americans believe Saddam was probably behind 9/11...President Bush may have only himself to blame." But the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today only squeezed in short items. In getting so excited over what he considered Bush's concession, Roberts ignored a front page USA Today story on Thursday, "U.S.: Iraq sheltered suspect in '93 WTC attack."

3. ABC Rationalizes Ted Kennedy's Scurrilous Charges on Iraq
ABC on Friday night devoted a story to showing the lack of support for Senator Ted Kennedy's scurrilous claims that President Bush is bribing foreign leaders, went to war in a war "made up in Texas" because it would be good politically and, Kennedy charged, "this whole thing was a fraud." But after illustrating how Kennedy's claims lacked evidence, though John Cochran passed along how Tom DeLay castigated Kennedy's remarks as "a new low" in politics, Cochran gave equal credibility and legitimacy to why Kennedy leveled his baseless charges: "Sources familiar with Kennedy's reasoning say he stepped up his attacks on the President in an effort to get the country to pay more attention to a situation in Iraq that he feels is catastrophic." The ends justify the means?

4. Russert Presses Albright on Her Opposition to Pursing bin Laden
Kudos to Tim Russert for managing to go a week without urging a guest to agree with him that the tax cuts should be rescinded and for raising with Clinton's Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, a scenario laid out in a new book about how, after the bombing of the USS Cole, she opposed going after Osama bin Laden.

5. Time's Klein Advises Democrats on How to Better Attack Cheney
Time magazine's Joe Klein doubling as a Democratic campaign consultant? Last Wednesday night CNN's Paula Zahn Now devoted two segments to unsubstantiated allegations about how Vice President Cheney somehow did something improper which led Halliburton, for whom he worked through 2000, to get big contracts for troop logistical support and to re-build Iraq. Klein conceded that the attacks were off-base, so he urged Democrats to pursue a more fruitful line of attack: "I think that what the Democrats should be investigating is not just these contracts, but the whole policy-making process that led to the energy policy that this country has, and, also, on the most important level, why we went to war in Iraq and why we went so easy on Saudi Arabia."

6. Robbins Jabs Limbaugh to Undo "Shameful" Past of Ducking Vietnam
Tim Robbins called out Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, urging them to "undo their shameful" past, when they "pussied out" of service during Vietnam, by agreeing to sign up and join the military deployed to Iraq. The far-left actor proclaimed Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: "I would suggest that we send some of those people over there. I would love to see a Sergeant O'Reilly in the armed forces. And a Lieutenant Limbaugh. Lieutenant Limbaugh would be beautiful thing to see."

7. TV This Week: "Good News from Iraq," Hume/Bush, Cheney/Letterman
On TV this week: ABC promises a look at "good news from Iraq," Fox will air Brit Hume's session with President Bush, Lynne Cheney will appear on the Late Show and on CNBC will carry an afternoon debate amongst the Democratic presidential candidates.

Rather Admits CBS Stories on Mayhem Don't
Match Reality of Iraq

The CBS Evening News, where the stories, self-admittedly, don't match reality. On Friday night, Dan Rather introduced a dire story on how "ordinary Iraqis are faced with an extraordinary surge of crime, banditry and thuggery from carjacking and robbery to kidnapping and murder" resulting "in a population fearful, frustrated, angry and heavily armed." Reporter Kimberly Dozier focused on a father whose child was kidnapped: "His liberators, the Americans, have failed to protect what he values most. He sees no reason for them to stay." The father declared: "We hope go out from this country."

But never mind. After Dozier's piece on mayhem in Baghdad, Rather conceded that the story he just aired had distorted the situation: "A reminder that television sometimes has trouble with perspective, so you may want to note that in some areas of Iraq, things are peaceful."

Probably more like in most of Iraq.

Rather set up the September 19 story, as taken down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "While increasingly organized guerilla war-style attacks are a top concern for American forces in Iraq, ordinary Iraqis are faced with an extraordinary surge of crime, banditry and thuggery from carjacking and robbery to kidnapping and murder. And as CBS's Kimberly Dozier reports, the result is a population fearful, frustrated, angry and heavily armed."

Dozier began: "Day or night, these are some of the most dangerous streets on Earth. Desperation drives murder and theft. Iraqis have traded fear of the despot for fear of their fellow man, and U.S. troops seem powerless to protect them. Thieves grab up to 70 cars every 24 hours, usually when someone's in them. This time, these Iraqis fought back. Everyone here has a gun?"
Unidentified Iraqi man: "Has a gun not to do the wrong thing, just to protect ourselves."
Dozier: "But all that firepower means disputes in Baghdad often end up here. Since the war, Baghdad's hospitals have been flooded with shooting victims, more than 800 a month end up dead, as many as the entire previous year. Also on the rise, kidnapping. Sometimes for money, sometimes for no reason at all. Three-year-old Abdullah chased a ball out this front garden into the street in the wealthy Amariya (sp?) district of Baghdad....No one has contacted the family. Iraqi police and U.S. troops say they can do nothing. All Abdullah's mother can do is pray. Who do you blame for this?"
Father of kidnapped child: "The Iraqi police and the American army. They don't do anything."
Dozier: "Like other Iraqis, he has taken matters into his own hands and bought a gun. If someone tries to come here again?"
Father: "I kill him. If I can, I kill him."
Dozier: "His liberators, the Americans, have failed to protect what he values most. He sees no reason for them to stay."
Father: "We hope go out from this country."
Dozier: "Kimberly Dozier, CBS News, Baghdad."

Rather then noted: "A reminder that television sometimes has trouble with perspective, so you may want to note that in some areas of Iraq, things are peaceful."

The night before, September 18, Dozier delivered an equally dire look, but sans any follow-up caveat from Rather. The MRC's Brad Wilmouth took down Dozier's words in her Thursday CBS Evening News story:
"Iraqi fighters to the north were blamed for another attack. A crucial oil pipeline caught fire and burned for hours. It added to a growing sense of frustration among top brass here that no measure is enough to protect their soldiers or Iraq's resources. ...But the conflict keeps costing American lives and billions of U.S. tax dollars, including millions of dollars spent on fuel imports to make up for the revenue lost when oil goes offline. Iraqis expected by now that they'd be enjoying their country's oil well, not standing in line waiting for fuel. Many Americans, too, thought they might enjoy the benefits of cheap Iraqi crude instead of being stuck with a steep repair bill....Ordinary Iraqis blame Americans for not fixing the damage fast enough, even as the soldiers are risking their lives to do it....And it's far from over. On the road where U.S. troops were attacked today, America has made new enemies. They're chanting the name of that old foe, Saddam Hussein, and vowing to attack Americans everywhere."

"Bush May Have Only Himself to Blame"
for Idea of Iraq-9/11 Tie

The networks made a much bigger deal than did major newspapers about President Bush's Wednesday, September 17 comment that "we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th." That night ABC highlighted it, CBS made it the top item in a larger story and NBC and CNN devoted full stories to it. And on Thursday night, the CBS Evening News followed up with a second story by John Roberts on how "if seven out of ten Americans believe Saddam was probably behind 9/11, as a recent poll showed, President Bush may have only himself to blame."

The major newspapers on September 18 considered Bush's comment worthy of no more than short stories deep inside the paper. Both the New York Times and Washington Post put their stories on page A18 while USA Today squeezed it in on page 16A. For a rundown of television coverage on Wednesday night: www.mediaresearch.org

In getting so excited over what he considered Bush's concession, Roberts ignored a front page USA Today story on Thursday, "U.S.: Iraq sheltered suspect in '93 WTC attack." Reporter John Diamond relayed: "U.S. authorities in Iraq say they have new evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime gave money and housing to Abdul Rahman Yasin, a suspect in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, according to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials." See: www.usatoday.com

Indeed, President Bush made just that point in his Wednesday comments in the cabinet room, but of the networks, only CNN's John King, in a piece for NewsNight, played that portion of Bush's remarks: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th. Now, what the Vice President said was is that he has been involved with al-Qaeda and al-Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda operative was in Baghdad. He's the guy that ordered the killing of a U.S. diplomat. He's a man who's still running loose involved with the poisons network, involved with Ansar al-Islam. There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al-Qaeda ties."

On Thursday night, Rather plugged an upcoming story: "Still ahead on tonight's CBS Evening News, where did so many Americans get the idea Saddam was involved in 9/11? Was it or was it not from President Bush and his administration? We'll check the record next."

Rather introduced the subsequent story by relaying Ted Kennedy's harsh attack: "Iraq has been freed from Saddam Hussein, and there are some good things happening in the country. But, with U.S. casualties mounting in Iraq, President Bush's critics are coming back to the case he made for going to war. Today, Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy said there had been, quote, 'no imminent threat' from Iraq, calling that suggestion, again, quote, 'a fraud,' quote, 'made up in Texas to boost Republicans.' CBS News chief White House correspondent John Roberts has been checking the record about what the President, the Vice President and their administration have said about Iraq, Saddam and the terror connection."

Roberts, who could only come up with past Bush quotes which did not in any way blame Hussein for 9/11, began: "Under fire from critics who charge he's been blurring the lines between Iraq and 9/11, President Bush was forced to clarify yesterday that no connections exist."
President George W. Bush: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September the 11th."
Roberts: "But if seven out of ten Americans believe Saddam was probably behind 9/11, as a recent poll showed, President Bush may have only himself to blame."
Bush, State of the Union address, January 28: "Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained."
Roberts: "In speech after speech, the President has thrown Saddam, 9/11 and al-Qaeda all in the same basket."
Bush, on aircraft carrier, May 1: "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001."
Roberts: "Why, just this past weekend, his Vice President described Iraq this way."
Vice President Dick Cheney on Meet the Press: "-the geographic base of the terrorists who've had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."
Roberts: "And all the way back to the morning of September 11th, according to notes taken by an aide, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was wondering if the intelligence was good enough to 'hit S.H.,' Saddam Hussein. Critics say the White House wanted Americans to believe that Saddam and 9/11 may have been linked, that it provided a tremendous rallying point to sell a war and a costly occupation. Last February, justifying a war in Iraq on the basis it could prevent another 9/11, Rumsfeld said war 'would cost a heck of a lot less than 9/11 cost.'"
Daniel Benjamin, Center for Strategic and International Studies: "The administration has not really sought to clarify matters, and it seems to have benefitted, in terms of its own policy towards Iraq, from this ambiguity."
Roberts concluded: "The White House insists it never meant to link Saddam Hussein with 9/11, only to illuminate his ties to al-Qaeda, ties intelligence and terrorism experts say are still thin at best. Dan."

ABC Rationalizes Ted Kennedy's Scurrilous
Charges on Iraq

ABC on Friday night devoted a story to showing the lack of support for Senator Ted Kennedy's scurrilous claims that President Bush went to war in a war "made up in Texas" because it would be good politically and, Kennedy charged, "this whole thing was a fraud." Kennedy also alleged that money for Iraq "is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops."

But after illustrating how Kennedy's claims lacked evidence, though John Cochran passed along how Tom DeLay castigated Kennedy's remarks as "a new low" in politics, Cochran gave equal credibility and legitimacy to why Kennedy leveled his baseless charges: "Sources familiar with Kennedy's reasoning say he stepped up his attacks on the President in an effort to get the country to pay more attention to a situation in Iraq that he feels is catastrophic."

The ends justify the means?

World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings set up the September 19 story, as transcribed by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth:
"Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts has launched a major attack on the President's war policies. He gave an interview yesterday, which certainly got a lot of attention, and today we asked ABC's John Cochran to check out what the Senator had said and whether he had his facts right."

Cochran began: "Senator Kennedy has criticized the President on Iraq before, but never like this. Kennedy told the Associated Press the war in Iraq was a 'fraud made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically.' Actually, Kennedy was referring to a speech the President's political advisor, Karl Rove, made not last January, but in January of 2002. Rove said then that national security issues were good political issues for Republicans, but Rove never said a war was going to take place in Iraq or any place else.
"Kennedy also said a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office showed that only $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent every month on Iraq could be accounted for by the Bush administration. We could not find a CBO report that mentions such a figure. Today a source close to Kennedy agreed and said the Senator had heard that figure from someone. Kennedy also said he believed 'this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops.' But again, a source close to Kennedy said he was not referring to actual bribery but incentives to countries such as Turkey to send troops to Iraq.
"Today House Majority Leader Tom DeLay called Kennedy's remarks 'hateful' and 'a new low.' Sources familiar with Kennedy's reasoning say he stepped up his attacks on the President in an effort to get the country to pay more attention to a situation in Iraq that he feels is catastrophic. John Cochran, ABC News, Washington."

Well, he got some attention from ABC News.

For the AP's September 18 story, "Kennedy Says Iraq War Case a 'Fraud,'" go to: story.news.yahoo.com

Russert Presses Albright on Her Opposition
to Pursing bin Laden

Kudos to Tim Russert for managing to go a week without urging a guest to agree with him that the tax cuts should be rescinded and for raising with Clinton's Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, a scenario laid out in a new book about how, after the bombing of the USS Cole, she opposed going after Osama bin Laden.

During Albright's appearance on the September 21 Meet the Press, Russert read from a new book by Richard Mintier on how the Clinton administration failed to pursue bin Laden. Russert read a passage, with the words on screen, ellipses as on screen:
"There's a debate which is waged in political and diplomatic circles about September 11. Could more have been done by the Clinton administration prior to September 11 -- and you write about some of that in your book. Another book called Losing Bin Laden is out and it talks about, the Clinton administration, you specifically. Let me go through that and give you a chance to respond. In October 12, 2002 [actually 2000], the USS Cole was blown up. 'An American warship had been attacked without warning in a 'friendly' harbor -- and, at the time, no one knew if the ship's pumps could keep it afloat for the night. Now, they had to decide what to do about it.
"'[Clinton administration counter-terrorism czar Richard] Clarke had no doubts whom to punish. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had compiled thick binders of bin Laden and Taliban targets in Afghanistan, complete with satellite photographs and GPS bomb coordinates...The detailed plan was 'to level' every bin Laden training camp and compound in Afghanistan as well as key Taliban buildings in Kabul and Kandahar. 'Let's blow them up,' Clarke said....
"'Around the table, Clarke head only objections-not a mandate for action...
"'Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was against a counterstrike-but for diplomatic reasons. 'We're desperately trying to halt the fighting that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinians,' Albright said. Clarke recalls her saying, 'bombing Muslims wouldn't be helpful at this time.'...
"'Albright urged continued diplomatic efforts to persuade the Taliban to turn over bin Laden. Those efforts had been going on for more than two years and had gone nowhere. It was unlikely that the Taliban would every voluntarily turn over its strongest internal ally.'"

Done with the book excerpt, Russert pointed out: "And nine months later, after that discussion, September 11."

Albright answered by boasting of how much the Clinton team did to get bin Laden after the embassy bombings in Africa, but she insisted they did not have any definitive evidence to tie him to the Cole bombing.

For a look at Mintier's book, Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror, see Regnery Publishing's page on it: www.regnery.com

Time's Klein Advises Democrats on How
to Better Attack Cheney

Time magazine's Joe Klein doubling as a Democratic campaign consultant? Last Wednesday night CNN's Paula Zahn Now devoted two segments to unsubstantiated allegations about how Vice President Cheney somehow did something improper which led Halliburton, for whom he worked through 2000, to get big contracts for troop logistical support and to re-build Iraq.

Klein, the MRC's Ken Shepherd noticed, conceded: "I'm pretty sure that the Vice President didn't call Don Rumsfeld and say, you got to give this contract to Halliburton." Klein urged Democrats to pursue a more fruitful line of attack:
"I think that what the Democrats should be investigating is not just these contracts, but the whole policy-making process that led to the energy policy that this country has, and, also, on the most important level, why we went to war in Iraq and why we went so easy on Saudi Arabia."

During his September 17 appearance, Klein elaborated on his complaint: "I'm talking about going to war in Iraq and not holding Saudi Arabia to account for its longtime relationship with al Qaeda, and the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, and the fact that the Bush family and the Halliburton company has a longstanding relationship with the ruling family in Saudi Arabia. So, given those facts, it's really important for the Vice President, the Defense Department and others to be very clean about this. The Vice President shouldn't be taking money. Torie's [Clark] old associate, Assistant Secretary Doug Feith, shouldn't have his law rounding up, rustling up clients you know, who want to do business in Iraq. And, also, the Vice President should have had a far more open energy policy process, which he closed to the public."

Robbins Jabs Limbaugh to Undo "Shameful"
Past of Ducking Vietnam

Tim Robbins called out Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, urging them to "undo their shameful" past, when they "pussied out" of service during Vietnam, by agreeing to sign up and join the military deployed to Iraq. The far-left actor proclaimed Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: "I would suggest that we send some of those people over there. I would love to see a Sergeant O'Reilly in the armed forces. And a Lieutenant Limbaugh. Lieutenant Limbaugh would be beautiful thing to see."

Appearing on the September 19 panel with Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson and actor/comedian Dana Carvey, Robbins complained about the long deployments causing reservists to lose their apartments and charged that "instead of cutting $10 billion in aid" to veterans (a ridiculous claim), those who were so "gung ho" for the war should now sign up for it so those over there can return home.

Robbins spewed his vile: "I would suggest that we send some of those people over there. I would love to see a Sergeant O'Reilly in the armed forces. And a Lieutenant Limbaugh. Lieutenant Limbaugh would be beautiful thing to see. These guys have the opportunity a lot of, most of these guys that were such advocates of this war had the opportunity during Vietnam to serve their country and pussied out. And here's a perfect opportunity for them to undo that shameful past and to enlist and go over and walk it like they talk it."
Maher quipped: "So you want fat, middle-aged men fighting for America?"
Robbins added cops to the list of those he insulted: "Hey, you know, the police departments, you know."

Limbaugh was born in 1951 and O'Reilly in 1949, making both well over age 50 and way too old for any military service.

For a picture and bio of Robbins, who was born in 1958 and thus was luckily too young for Vietnam, check his Internet Movie Database page with a complete rundown of his movie roles: www.imdb.com

TV This Week: "Good News from Iraq,"
Hume/Bush, Cheney/Letterman

On TV this week: ABC promises a look at "good news from Iraq," Fox will air Brit Hume's session with President Bush, Lynne Cheney will appear on the Late Show and on CNBC will carry an afternoon debate amongst the Democratic presidential candidates:

-- Good news from Iraq. An ABC promo run over the weekend for this week's World News Tonight promised: "Plus, good news from Iraq: These Iraqis and U.S. soldiers are getting along just fine."

-- Bush interview in prime time. Tonight, Monday September 22, at 8pm EDT/PDT, 7pm CDT/MDT, Fox will carry a one-hour special with Brit Hume's interview of President Bush which was conducted Sunday afternoon at the White House. That's Fox, not FNC, though I'm sure it will later repeat on FNC.

-- Lynne Cheney late night. On Wednesday night, Second Lady Lynne Cheney is scheduled to appear on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman.

-- Democratic presidential debate. Thursday at 4pm EDT, CNBC will carry a Democratic presidential debate, the first with Wesly Clark.

-- Brent Baker