Doesn't Rather bare some of the responsibility for letting the Bush Administration avoid accountability for its actions in the so-called war on terrorism?
Jim F.
On Fri, 17 May 2002 04:09:00 -0500 / dave / <arouet at winternet.com>
writes:
> [This little item was read over the BBC World Service as a "headline"
>
> story of sorts, but so far seems largely buried in the U.S., tucked
> in
> the Arts/Entertainment section or with other unplaced wire services
> stories. (Rather's complaints about the Bush administration come a
> day
> after he and his network, CBS, were taken to task by that same
> administration for showing 15 seconds of the Daniel Pearl video in a
>
> story about how that video was being used to recruit new
> converts...)]
>
> Newsman Rather Tells Americans Ask More Questions
> By REUTERS
>
> Filed at 7:47 p.m. ET
>
> LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. news anchor Dan Rather warned
> Americans
> on Thursday not to let patriotism in the wake of the September 11
> attacks stop them from asking tough questions of President Bush and
> his
> "war on terror."
>
> Speaking to the BBC's Newsnight current affairs program, Rather said
> the
> heightened sense of patriotism after September 11 risked getting out
> of
> control, and stopping the press from holding the government to
> account
> over its war in Afghanistan.
>
> "I worry that patriotism run amok, will trample the very values that
> the
> country seeks to defend," said the CBS newsman, whose steely manner
> and
> professionalism became a symbol of America's resilience in the dark
> days
> after September 11.
>
> "In a constitutional republic, based on the principles of democracy
> such
> as ours, you simply cannot sustain warfare without the people at
> large
> understanding why we fight, how we fight, and have a sense of
> accountability to the very top.''
>
> Rather admitted that journalists, himself included, often felt under
>
> pressure to pull their punches for fear of being branded unpatriotic
> --
> the equivalent of having a "flaming tire" hung around their neck.
>
> "One finds oneself saying "I know the right question, but you know
> what?
> This is not exactly the right time to ask it,'' he said.
>
> "What we are talking about here -- whether one wants to recognize it
> or
> not, or call it by its proper name or not -- is a form of
> self-censorship,'' said Rather.
>
> He also accused the Bush administration of giving news organizations
> too
> little access and information, which he said went directly against
> the
> Pentagon's stated policy of giving ''maximum information and maximum
>
> openness'' about the war.
>
> "There has never been an American war, small or large, in which
> access
> has been so limited as this one,'' he said.
>
> The news black-out was allowing those in charge, who were putting
> the
> lives of American servicemen and women at risk, to hide, he said.
>
> "Limiting access, limiting information to cover the backsides of
> those
> who are in charge of the war, is extremely dangerous and cannot and
> should not be accepted,'' he said.
>
> The more the American public swallowed the official line under the
> banner of patriotism, the more government accountability would
> suffer,
> Rather said.
>
> "I am sorry to say that...overwhelmingly it has been accepted by the
>
> American people. And the current administration revels in that, they
>
> relish that, and they take refuge in that.''
>
> He also panned the increasing "Hollywoodization of war'' that is
> sweeping across the U.S. media, with hit shows such as VH1's
> 'Military
> Diaries', featuring real soldiers talking frankly about their
> experiences on Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan.
>
> "I want to say quietly, but as forcefully as I can, that I hope this
>
> doesn't go any further. It has gone too far already. I am appalled
> by
> it, I do think it's an outrage,'' he said.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-attack-usa-rather.html
>
> --
>
> / dave /
>
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