please, like the dictator in chief would ever lie, i should call TIPS and turn these traitors in...

[Guest guest]

ACTION ALERT:

Connie Chung: Skeptical of Skepticism

 

October 10, 2002

 

On her October 7 broadcast, CNN's Connie Chung took a U.S. congressmember

to task for doubting George W. Bush.

 

After Rep. Mike Thompson (D.-Calif.) told Chung that there seemed to be no

evidence that Iraq posed an immediate danger to the people of the United

States or its allies, the anchor responded, " Well, let's listen to

something that President Bush said tonight, and you tell me if this

doesn't provide you with the evidence that you want. "

 

She then aired a clip from the speech that Bush made in Cincinnati:

 

" Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include

one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad

this year and who has been associated with planning for chemical and

biological attacks.

 

" We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making, in

poisons and deadly gases. And we know that after September 11, Saddam

Hussein's regime gleefully celebrated the terrorist attacks on America. "

 

 

After this soundbite, Chung continued: " Congressman, doesn't that tell you

that an invasion of Iraq is justified? "

 

Thompson began to respond: " Connie, we haven't seen any proof that any of

this has happened. I have sat through all the classified briefings on the

Armed Services.... "

 

But this questioning of what Bush said appeared to be too much for Chung.

She interrupted Thompson's answer, saying, " You mean you don't believe

what President Bush just said? With all due respect....you know... I mean,

what... "

 

Faced with Chung's obvious alarm that someone might not take Bush's word

as definitive proof, Thompson tried to reassure her: " No, no, that's not

what I said.... I said that there has been nothing in the committee

hearing briefings that have substantiated this. If there is

substantiation, we need to see that in Congress, not hear it over the

television monitor. "

 

Later in the broadcast, Chung returned to the question of whether Thompson

trusted Bush, suggesting that skepticism toward Bush was equivalent to an

endorsement of Saddam Hussein:

 

" Congressman Thompson, there are those who believe that you and your two

colleagues who went to Iraq came back with the basic position of President

Bush may be trying to tell you something that in his effort to get

approval for an invasion in Iraq, that you shouldn't believe. So it sounds

almost as if you're asking the American public, 'Believe Saddam Hussein,

don't believe President Bush.' "

 

Rather than insinuating that it's unpatriotic to question a commander in

chief, Chung might better have looked into the question of whether or not

Bush's statements on Iraq have been trustworthy. That was the approach

taken by two reporters for the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain, Warren

Strobel and Jonathan Landay, who interviewed more than a dozen military,

intelligence and diplomatic officials on this question (10/8/02):

 

" These officials charge that administration hawks have exaggerated

evidence of the threat that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein poses-- including

distorting his links to the Al Qaeda terrorist network-- have overstated

the amount of international support for attacking Iraq and have downplayed

the potential repercussions of a new war in the Middle East. They charge

that the administration squelches dissenting views and that intelligence

analysts are under intense pressure to produce reports supporting the

White House's argument that Saddam poses such an immediate threat to the

United States that pre-emptive military action is necessary. "

 

According to Strobe and Landay, none of the officials they interviewed

disagreed with this assessment.

 

The Knight-Ridder story addresses the very issue on which Chung chided

Thompson for doubting Bush: " The officials said there's no ironclad

evidence that the Iraqi regime and the terrorist network are working

together or that Saddam has ever contemplated giving chemical or

biological weapons to Al Qaeda, with whom he has deep ideological

differences. "

 

While it's Chung's job to ask tough questions of politicians like

Thompson, asking him how he dares to contradict another government

official is hardly the way to go about it. A skeptical response to

official claims is something Chung would do well to emulate, not attack.

 

 

ACTION: Please encourage Connie Chung to show more skepticism of official

pronouncements-- rather than criticizing those who demonstrate such

skepticism.

 

 

CONTACT:

CNN

Connie Chung Tonight

conniechungtonight

 

 

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if

you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair with your

correspondence.

 

See the Strobel and Landay story at:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/nation/1607676