Katie Couric, speaking at the National Press Club meeting:“Everyone in this room would agree that people in this country were misled in terms of the rationale of this war,” said Couric, adding that it is “pretty much accepted” that the war in Iraq was a mistake.
“I’ve never understood why [invading Iraq] was so high on the administration’s agenda when terrorism was going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that [Iraq] had no true connection with al Qaeda.”
Further, Couric said the Bush administration botched the war effort, calling it “accepted truths” that it erred by“disbanding the Iraq military, and leaving 100,000 Sunni men feeling marginalized and angry...[and] whether there were enough boots on the ground, the feeling that we’d be welcomed as liberators and didn’t need to focus as much on security.” She added “I’d feel totally comfortable saying any of that at some point, if required, on television.”
The former “Today” show anchor traced her discomfort with the administration’s march to war back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The whole culture of wearing flags on our lapel and saying ‘we’ when referring to the United States and, even the ‘shock and awe’ of the initial stages, it was just too jubilant and just a little uncomfortable. And I remember feeling, when I was anchoring the ‘Today’ show, this inevitable march towards war and kind of feeling like, ‘Will anybody put the brakes on this?’ And is this really being properly challenged by the right people? And I think, at the time, anyone who questioned the administration was considered unpatriotic and it was a very difficult position to be in.”
Let me say that I don't care what kind of hairdo a journalist/anchorperson has, I don't care what they are wearing, I don't care if they are young, old, fat or thin. I also don't care a rat's patoot about network ratings, and I don't particularly trust the news I'm being fed because of government, and especially corporate influences upon broadcast media. Not of it is truly fair, none of it is complete, and none of it is without some bias and spin. I have no respect for a journalist who won't demand answers to the hard questions. "And is this really being properly challenged by the right people?" Katie, you are the "right people" you were talking about.
It's nice to hear Katie expressing her own very frank opinion on this war and what's behind it, and have her comments "on the record". Keep it going. [LINK]
Found via Raw Story
Tags: Iraq - Couric
1 comment:
I'll had a "witness!" to that. If the press and the politicians aren't the right people and no one actually listens to The People, then who is supposed to speak out?
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