Jennings Focuses on Iraqis in Phoenix Against U.S. Policy -- 02/13/2003 CyberAlert

1. Jennings Focuses on Iraqis in Phoenix Against U.S. Policy
Peter Jennings always manages to dig out and focus on detractors of American policy no matter where he goes. Reviewing what he found in Phoenix, Jennings highlighted the views of a woman married to an Iraqi who believes that force is "not the answer" as she asked, "When is the last time that you hit someone and they became your friend afterwards?", how at an Iraqi refuge center a man "worries about what the U.S. will do in Iraq after the war" and that "many Iraqis here remember the last time they put their faith in the U.S." and tried to rise up against Hussein "the U.S. didn't support their rebellion, and it was crushed."

2. Fleischer: Does ABC News "Acknowledge Hussein Has WMD?"
Peter Jennings' hostility toward President Bush's Iraq policy is so obvious that at Wednesday's White House press briefing, when ABC reporter Terry Moran asked about Saddam Hussein's "arsenal of germs and chemicals" getting into the hands of terrorists, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer wondered: "Does this mean that ABC News is acknowledging that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction?" Indeed, just last week Jennings stressed how it's "if" Hussein possesses the chemical weapons Bush claims.

3. Koppel More Suspicious of Bush Motives Than is Ex-Clinton Aide
A former Clinton adviser is more favorably disposed toward the motivations of the Bush team than is Ted Koppel. On Tuesday's Nightline, Koppel wanted to know if the Bush administration isn't questioning whether Osama bin Laden is alive or dead "because it's useful at this point to link him together with the Iraqis?" Daniel Benjamin, a former member of the National Security Council under Clinton, dismissed Koppel's premise.

4. Actress Queen Latifah Implies "Whole Cold War Thing" a Ruse
The "incredible timing" of Osama bin Laden linking his cause with Iraq just as the Bush administration was trying to prove such a tie, is better "than Hugh Hefner finding Viagra at 78," Joy Behar quipped on ABC's daytime show The View. Also on the Wednesday edition of that show, Queen Latifah, who was just nominated for an Academy Award, suggested the "whole Cold War thing," in which "they made us scared" of the Soviet Union, was a big ruse.

5. Clinton Grumbles that Media "Sympathetic" to Conservatives
Add Bill Clinton to the list of liberals who claim there's not only no liberal media bias, there's a conservative media bias. On Wednesday's Today, he whined about how conservatives have everything from "sympathetic newspapers to sympathetic cable programs." That prompted even Katie Couric to point out: "They might say, 'Hey everybody else is liberal.'" To that, Clinton countered by citing the names of some radio talk show hosts -- as if they are the news media.

6. Dennis Miller Takes on a Whining Phil Donahue
On MSNBC Wednesday night Dennis Miller so flustered Phil Donahue that he went on a rant about how people like Miller are trying to "marginalize" liberals. Donahue also claimed to be a "conservative" and insisted: "I would make a good Republican." When Donahue charged that dropping bombs which kill old people and children will give "Osama a poster for recruiting more angry young Islamic militants," an incredulous Miller fired back: "Oh, you believe he needs that, Phil? Do you really believe that he needs that?" Plus, catch Miller's quips about the New York Times, the French and Bill Clinton.

7. "Top Ten Things I, Saddam Hussein, Want to Get Off My Chest"
Letterman's "Top Ten Things I, Saddam Hussein, Want to Get Off My Chest."

Jennings Focuses on Iraqis in Phoenix Against
U.S. Policy

Peter Jennings always manages to dig out and focus on detractors of American policy no matter where he goes in the United States. Reviewing what he found during his time in Phoenix as part of his Western U.S. trip, Jennings highlighted the views of a woman married to an Iraqi who believes that force is "not the answer" as she asked, "When is the last time that you hit someone and they became your friend afterwards?", how at an Iraqi refuge center a man "worries about what the U.S. will do in Iraq after the war" and that "many Iraqis here remember the last time they put their faith in the U.S. After the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam Hussein, but the U.S. didn't support their rebellion, and it was crushed."

And he promised that on Thursday night he'd provide a look at where "this country's weapons of mass destruction" were created -- Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Jennings concluded the February 12 World News Tonight with a review which inch included, but was not limited to, a town meeting he moderated Tuesday night on the Phoenix ABC affiliate. Jennings asserted, as transcribed by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth:
"Finally this evening, from here in Arizona where it actually rained for a change today, trying to get a handle on people's priorities. Phoenix has all sorts of problems common to many parts of the West. Simple growth, for one thing. And there was a constant strain on the infrastructure -- from traffic to water to hospitals and schools. And at a town hall meeting here last night, people struggled with the additional burdens of war and possible terrorism. For a while, the audience debated about what sort of message the U.S. is sending overseas. The young American married to an Iraqi said she had family in Baghdad and in the U.S. Army. She told an Iraqi Christian now living here that force was not the answer."
Man on panel: "The only way you can fight terrorism really is by using force. That's really the only way you can deal with these people."
Woman in audience in Middle Eastern garb: "The only way that you can fight my people is to kill them? I mean, when is the last time that you hit someone and they became your friend afterwards?"
Jennings in a parking lot: "It is not surprising to hear from an Iraqi American here. Phoenix is home to 3000 Iraqi refugees. For them, getting rid of Saddam Hussein would be a blessing. But at the refugee center, Batoul Shamil (sp?) worries about what the U.S. will do in Iraq after the war."
Batoul Shamil: "I agree with them to change the regime, but I don't want them to occupy my country."
Jennings: "Many Iraqis here remember the last time they put their faith in the U.S. After the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam Hussein, but the U.S. didn't support their rebellion, and it was crushed."
Jabar al-Gawari (sp?): "They betrayed us. They betrayed us."
Jennings: "Jabar al-Gawari fled the country and ended up in Phoenix. He runs the refugee community center. He is willing to forgive the past if the U.S. follows through this time."
Al-Gawari: "I think United States now, it has a mission of bringing a democracy to that region."
Jennings: "At the town hall meeting last night, people were talking about the latest terrorist alerts. The governor, Janet Napolitano, was asked more than once whether the state was prepared to deal with terrorism. The police chief himself asked her the question....

Jennings proceeded to show clips of the Governor and police chief over the lack of border security before Jennings noted how those living in a rural desert area near the California border feel secure.

Back on live at his outside anchor position, Jennings promised: "Tomorrow on the broadcast, we're going to report from New Mexico where many decades ago American scientists developed this country's weapons of mass destruction. We'll pay a visit to Los Alamos."

The KNXV-TV, "ABC 15" home page now features a RealPlayer clip of the entire hour-long town meeting moderated by Jennings: http://www.knxv.com/ [1]

Jennings also found a lot of disagreement with Bush's policy on Monday night when he was in Portland. As described in the February 11 CyberAlert, though Jennings noted how a new ABC News poll found solid support for President Bush's Iraq policy, with two-thirds backing military action to oust Saddam Hussein, anchoring from Portland he focused on how in Oregon "there is no consensus about war." Actually, just no consensus amongst a panel at a town meeting which Jennings hosted on the Portland ABC affiliate, at least judging by the anti-war views of those Jennings chose to highlight. For details:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030211.asp#2 [2]

Fleischer: Does ABC News "Acknowledge
Hussein Has WMD?"

Peter Jennings' hostility toward President Bush's Iraq policy is so obvious that at Wednesday's White House press briefing, when ABC reporter Terry Moran asked about Saddam Hussein's "arsenal of germs and chemicals" getting into the hands of terrorists, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer wondered: "Does this mean that ABC News is acknowledging that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction?"

Living up to ABC's reputation, Moran soon demanded: "Is it possible, though, that by pushing this issue to the brink of war, the President has made Americans less safe from these weapons?"

Indeed, Fleischer may have recalled how just last week, as recounted in the February 6 CyberAlert, after John McWethy warned of the threat Iraq's chemical and biological weapons will pose to U.S. troops, Jennings came to Hussein's defense, assuming he may not have the weapons: "John, very quickly, it's an 'if' still at the Pentagon, is it? 'If' he has all of these provisions?" See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030206.asp#1 [3]

MRC analyst Ken Shepherd caught this exchange between Fleischer and Moran at about 12:30pm EST during the February 12 briefing carried by the cable news networks:

Moran: "What is the administration's assessment of the likelihood of the risk that Saddam Hussein with his back up against the wall, with war seeming almost inevitable, will open up his arsenal of germs and chemicals and disperse them to terrorists?"
Fleischer quipped: "Um, does this mean that ABC News is acknowledging that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction?"
Moran maintained: "We just report the facts and the fact says the UN-"
Fleischer: "I raise that for a reason, because there's been suggestions that the United States has not made -- carried out -- has no proof that he has these weapons of mass destruction. And, clearly, if the questions shift-"
Moran: "At ABC News? Can you identify when and where?"
[Laughter from press corps in attendance]
Fleischer: "I will be happy to provide you with transcripts whereas the administration claims that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, that the administration does have proof that they have weapons of mass destruction."
Moran: "What is the administration's assessment of the likelihood of the risk-"
Fleischer: "I'm a transcript collector from way back."
Moran: "-- I'll get back to you on that. But more importantly, what is the administration's assessment of the likelihood, of the risk, that Saddam Hussein would disperse whatever weapons he has to terrorists now that his survival is at stake, now that his back is up against the wall?"
Fleischer: "Well, it's always a worry that Saddam Hussein will do that, whether his back is against the wall, or whether his back is free and at peace. So the worry remains no matter what, not because of the actions that will be taken by an alliance, but because of the actions that will be taken by Saddam Hussein. Because Saddam Hussein, himself, would do this, even if there was no military option in play."
Moran: "Is it possible, though, that by pushing this issue to the brink of war, the President has made Americans less safe from these weapons?"
Fleischer: "We categorically reject that as a possibility in that allowing that is a formula for the United States forever be blackmailed by anybody and everybody around the world who would pursue weapons of mass destruction. That line of thought, that line of logic -- and I'm not suggesting that you're engaging it -- but that line of logic, if it was applied, would mean that the United States is forever saying we will be blackmailed. The United States will never accept that line of reasoning."

Just the night before, Jennings had editorialized that the administration "haven't proved the connection" between Iraq and al Qaeda. And, just like Moran at the briefing, on Tuesday's World News Tonight Martha Raddatz seemed to imply the administration's tough line toward Iraq may cause more terrorism: "Many believe this may backfire, saying, 'Who stirred up this hornets nest?'" http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030212.asp#1 [4]

In addition to what is documented in item #1 above, a couple of other examples, from just the past few days, of the hostility displayed by Jennings toward the Bush Iraq policy:

-- Jennings' language on Friday night betrayed how he seems to view the Bush administration as unreasonable and out of step on Iraq. Jennings fretted about how, "just as the Iraqis appear to be making some concessions, the U.S. thinks it has growing support for war." Jennings also remarked that we'll soon learn if Iraq follows the UN resolution "and if that means anything to the Bush administration." And, lamenting how the debate over going to war is proceeding "somewhat more timidly in this country" than overseas so, he promised to seek out dissent. See: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030210.asp#1 [5]

-- Yes, but. Peter Jennings acknowledged Thursday night that a new ABC News poll found that 71 percent think Colin Powell made a convincing case and 61 percent think the Bush team "has presented enough evidence against Saddam Hussein to justify going to war." With Americans pleased, Jennings went overseas to find discontent as he proceeded to highlight how "there's a degree of opposition to war in every country, even where the government has been supportive" and that "many Arabs, even if they dislike Saddam Hussein, wonder about America's long-term intentions." See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030207.asp#1 [6]

Koppel More Suspicious of Bush Motives
Than is Ex-Clinton Aide

A former Clinton adviser is more favorably disposed toward the motivations of the Bush team than is Ted Koppel. On Tuesday's Nightline, Koppel wanted to know if the Bush administration isn't questioning whether Osama bin Laden is alive or dead "because it's useful at this point to link him together with the Iraqis?" Daniel Benjamin, a former member of the National Security Council under Clinton, dismissed Koppel's premise.

MRC analyst Jessica Anderson observed this exchange between Koppel and Benjamin on the February 11 Nightline:

Koppel: "Daniel, for some reason or another, the administration this time around doesn't seem to be questioning whether Osama bin Laden is alive or dead. Is that because the conclusion now is that he's still alive or because it's useful at this point to link him together with the Iraqis?"
Benjamin: "I think it's primarily the former. I think that at this point, it seems to be fairly clear that he is alive. If you'll recall, Secretary Powell, when speaking at the UN, also referred to bin Laden as being alive and in Afghanistan. I think absent a body, there is no reason to doubt that he is still with us."
Koppel: "Now, what about the second half of the question, though? Does it serve the administration's purposes at this point in any fashion to say, 'See, we told you, he and Iraq have at least common purpose'?"
Benjamin: "It does certainly, and according to polls, a surprising number of Americans believe, actually, that Iraq was in league with al-Qaeda in the attack on the World Trade Center, so it certainly will underscore that perception, even though the administration has never said that there is any evidence whatsoever that the two were working together."

Actress Queen Latifah Implies
"Whole Cold War Thing" a Ruse

The "incredible timing" of Osama bin Laden linking his cause with Iraq just as the Bush administration was trying to prove such a tie, is better timing "than Hugh Hefner finding Viagra at 78," Joy Behar quipped on ABC's daytime show The View. Also on the Wednesday edition of that show, Queen Latifah, who was just nominated for an Academy Award, suggested the "whole Cold War thing," in which "they made us scared" of the Soviet Union, was a big ruse.

On the February 12 The View, the ABC show created by Barbara Walters, former Good Morning America staffer and WABC Radio talk show host Joy Behar suggested some sort of nefarious doings by Bush operatives: "This is incredible timing. Really. I mean, here we are trying to find the link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, in comes the tape that exact day. The timing is better than Hugh Hefner finding Viagra at 78. You know what I'm saying? Here's a man all his life, did whatever he wanted, and now that he's old he has Viagra. Same idea."
Former NBC News reporter Star Jones chimed in: "Really wagging the dog this time."
Then Queen Latifah, who was nominated on Tuesday for an Academy Award for "Best Supporting Actress" for her role in the movie Chicago, wondered: "Don't you want to know what's real and what's not? I remember when I was a kid, you know, this whole Cold War thing. They had us scared of the Russians. 'The Russians, the Russians, the Russians.' So it's almost like what's real and what's not?"

Like anyone rational would trust her to know.

So, because we won the "Cold War thing" there never was a threat, millions didn't die because of communism and no one was enslaved by Soviet expansionism?

For a bio and photo of the rap singer turned actress, check the Internet Movie Database's page for her: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Latifah,+Queen [7]

Clinton Grumbles that Media "Sympathetic"
to Conservatives

Add Bill Clinton to the list of liberals who claim there's not only no liberal media bias, there's a conservative media bias.

On Wednesday's Today, he grumbled about how conservatives and Republicans have "got everything from the Heritage Foundation to sympathetic newspapers to sympathetic cable programs that are heavily-weighted in their favor" That prompted even Katie Couric, MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens noticed, to point out: "They might say, 'Hey everybody else is liberal.'" To that, Clinton countered: "They say that but it hadn't been true for a long, long time." Clinton then cited how Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity "are very outspoken into, on the right wing of the Republican Party," as if that's all there is to the news media -- and none of them are part of the news media anyway.

Couric was in an odd position to challenge Clinton since last September she denied that Today has any liberal bias and maintained it's all in the distorted eyes of her viewers. On the September 18 Donahue on MSNBC, Matt Lauer argued that charges of liberal bias represent "much less, I think, our point of view than it is the point of view of the person watching the interview." Couric agreed: "That's true. I think really that it is sort of" a "Rorschach test" as "people really see what...they want to see from their particular frame of mind or the prism from which they're watching." For more:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020920.asp#6 [8]

An excerpt from Clinton's media rant and what led up to it during the taped interview, in a living room-like set, that was part of Today's week-long pre-President's Day interviews with former Presidents Ford, Clinton and Bush:

Couric: "Let's talk about the Democratic Party. What, in your view, happened to them in the midterm elections?"
Clinton: "Well I think first of all that the climate favored the incumbent party because after September the 11th we wanted to be united. And I think we just have to recognize that. There was a longing for us to be patriotic, to be strong, to be united. And I think second thing that happened was we were, in certain key races, pretty badly outspent. But I don't think that was the main thing. And then I think that the, the national security issue was used against Democrats I think. I don't think it was accurate but I always think when somebody attacks you, if it's not fair and you let them get away with it, it's your fault. We should've been more aggressive in answering that charge with the President. He, ironically, was against a Homeland Security Department for seven months and then he changed his position. All of a sudden everybody that didn't agree was not patriotic. And we should've never let him get away with that. That was our fault. We should make sure that we have adequate numbers of adequately trained police and fire. On those issues I think the Democrats so far have the better record and I think they ought to emphasize it more and I hope they will. But I hope they too will become bipartisan issues."
Couric: "So basically the Republicans have a better political machine right now?"
Clinton: "Much better. Well they have a much better, they have a much better media machine than we do. They worked on it for 30 years and they've got it. They've got everything from the Heritage Foundation to sympathetic newspapers to sympathetic cable programs that are heavily-weighted in their favor."
Couric: "Hey, they might say, 'Hey everybody else is liberal.'"
Clinton: "Yeah, but they say that but it hadn't been true for a long, long time. I mean, there are five people in America with more than two hours on radio. Who are they? Howard Stern. Near as I can tell old Howard's not political. If he is, he's done a great job of hiding it. Don Imus who's more Republican than Democrat and the other three are Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity who are very outspoken into, on the right wing of the Republican party. That's fine. But that makes a point I'm trying to make. We don't have that. So it means we have to be more disciplined, more clear, more focused. And it's just harder to do. But our guys will do fine."

Just not satisfied with having ABC News, CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, PBS, Time, Newsweek, the New York Times...

Dennis Miller Takes on a Whining Phil Donahue

MSNBC viewers got a lively hour Wednesday night/late afternoon as Donahue came live from Los Angeles at 5pm PST/8pm EST with Dennis Miller as the guest for the hour. So much good stuff, but only so much time to transcribe it. But we got down some of the best parts.

Miller so flustered Donahue that he went on a rant about how people like Miller are trying to "marginalize" liberals. Becoming a parody of himself, Donahue whined about how "you're making us to be some sort of wimpy kind of people who, woo, woo, we don't get it. We don't see evil. We think everything is a nice fairy tale. That is an attempt to marginalize us."

Donahue also claimed to be a conservative Republican: "We do not think one man should have the Army, Navy, and Marines to send the war all by himself and without the advice and consent of Congress as the Constitution calls us, upon us to do. That makes me conservative. I'm for the Constitution. I would make a good Republican."

When Donahue charged that dropping "incendiary devices on a crowded city at night where old people and children are sleeping" will give "Osama a poster for recruiting more angry young Islamic militants," an incredulous Miller fired back: "Oh, you believe he needs that, Phil? Do you really believe that he needs that?"

Miller's best two humorous zingers of the night:

-- On the New York Times: "If only Saddam Hussein would open an all-male country club somewhere in Iraq, so the Times could get behind this invasion."

-- On Osama bin Laden: "I think that he made a fatal error when he said that he didn't approve of drinking wine or adultery. Because now the French and Clinton are on board."

Now, from the portion of the February 12 show quoted above, a full transcript of one of the most illuminating exchanges between Miller and Donahue, as taken down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth, starting after Miller suggested liberals don't see the reality of the world:

Donahue: "Well, first of all, your comment suggests that liberals never see evil. Now, that's, what that does is marginalize liberals. I mean, did you ever talk to a liberal?"
Miller: "Yes, most of my great friends in the world are liberals."
Donahue: "But liberals, you're making us to be some sort of wimpy kind of people who, woo, woo, we don't get it. We don't see evil. We think everything is a nice fairy tale. That is an attempt to marginalize us. Our voice is strong, it is growing, we are very proud to live in a country that doesn't squelch it and tries to say shoosh, although everywhere we feel, we feel that kind of pressure. We're proud Americans. We believe in the Constitution. We believe in the War Powers Act. We believe Congress should get into this. We do not think one man should have the Army, Navy, and Marines to send the war all by himself and without the advice and consent of Congress as the Constitution calls us, upon us to do. That makes me conservative. I'm for the Constitution. I would make a good Republican. I don't know why so many Republicans dismiss this feature as sort of in the way. And by the way, we're not so frightened that we have to preempt, preemptively, you know, you got a rock there, boom!. Oops, sorry, thought you had a gun. Let us just calm down a minute."
Miller: "Oh, if it was only a rock, Phil, for God's sakes. The sword of Damocles is now an ICBM of Damocles, for God's sakes."
Donahue: "So because these bombs and these instruments of war are now so powerful-"
Miller: "Yes."
Donahue: "We can't wait for a conference. We've got to kill them right now."
Miller: "Listen, we get around, what's our-"
Donahue: "Do you really think it's gonna make us safer-"
Miller: "Yes."
Donahue: "-to drop incendiary devices on a crowded city at night where old people and children are sleeping? They're gonna say, 'Oh, boy, didn't know you were that strong! Okay, no more terrorism.' You are, we are giving Osama a poster for recruiting more angry young Islamic militants."
Miller: "Oh, you believe he needs that, Phil? Do you really believe that he needs that?"
Donahue: "Do you really believe that killing innocent people is going to, is going to make us safer?"
Miller: "Do you think that's our intention, to go over and seek out the innocent people?"
Donahue: "I do not think it's our intention. I do not think we are going to kill innocent people with malice. But we know it's going to happen, and it doesn't have to."

Links to Miller's earlier comments mocking liberals and standing up for President Bush's policies to combat terrorism:

-- On MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews a couple of weeks ago, trying to appeal to those in favor of abortion, he suggested "to not think of this as a war, but just think that we've chosen to abort Hussein." Miller explained that liberal opposition to school vouchers turned him to the right and he delivered fresh cracks at Bill Clinton and John Edwards. See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030204.asp#4 [9]

-- On the Tonight Show in late January Miller delivered some zingers against opponents of taking on Saddam Hussein militarily. He made fun of Sean Penn, the French, the ACLU and the French again. See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030130.asp#8 [10]

-- Last November on the Tonight Show Miller praised Bush's anti-terrorism efforts, favored attacking Iraq and juxtaposed the "wocka-wocka porno guitar of the Clinton administration" with how Bush "makes me proud to be an American again. He's just a decent guy." See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20021108.asp#7 [11]

-- In a June, 2002 Tonight Show appearance Miller mocked liberal orthodoxy: "If you put the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison outside of Kabul it would be their Epcot." And: "I say we create a new airline, called the ACLA, the American Civil Liberties Airline where you don't check anybody, you don't ask any questions, and let those morons fly on that one." See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020620.asp#4 [12]

-- And in November of 2001, noting how reporters say "it's the public's need to know about our ground forces being in there," on the Tonight Show Dennis Miller led the audience in a reprimanding journalists: "We don't want to know!" Miller also called for oil drilling in Alaska and praised President Bush for ending "the '70s porno guitar of the Clinton administration." See:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2001/cyb20011107.asp#7 [13]

For Miller's Internet Movie Database page with a rundown of his acting credits: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Miller,+Dennis+(I) [14]

Tonight's guest for the hour on Donahue: Atlanta-based conservative radio talk show host Neal Boortz. I see a strategy here: Donahue is bringing on conservative guests so that people will actually watch his show.

"Top Ten Things I, Saddam Hussein, Want to
Get Off My Chest"

From the February 12 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Things I, Saddam Hussein, Want to Get Off My Chest." The items were announced by a "translator's" voice over video of Hussein.

10. "I don't have links to Al Qaeda, but the same guy does our taxes"

9. "Of my 24 palaces, 19 are just timeshares"

8. "Kim Jong-Il cheats at Scrabble"

7. "I bought most of my medals on E-Bay"

6. "You know what I use to liven up leftovers? Anthrax"

5. "Sometimes even I confuse Iran and Iraq"

4. "Is it just me, or does it seem like Michael Jackson is weird?"

3. "Christiane Amanpour -- call me"

2. "Try to find a parking space in downtown Baghdad, now that's torture -- am I right, people?"

1. "I can't prove it, but I think Hans Blix took a leak in my pool"

The Late Show home page now features a RealPlayer clip of its version of Hussein reading a couple of the Top Ten items: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/ [15]

As of tonight the clip will be moved to the "Big Show Highlights" section of "Dave TV" at:
http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/dave_tv/ls_dtv_big_show_highlights
.shtml [16] -- CyberAlert written by Brent Baker [17]