FAIR Alert: Fox News Spins 9/11 Commission Report

[G_j]

mods: I believe FAIR allows it's action alerts to be posted in full,
but if you wish, I will edit this... thanks


FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and activism

http://www.fair.org/activism/fox-commission.html

ACTION ALERT:
Fox News Spins 9/11 Commission Report

June 22, 2004

The Bush administration's long-running attempts to link Iraq and Al Qaeda
were dealt a serious blow when the September 11 commission's June 16
interim report indicated that there did not appear to be a "collaborative
relationship" between Iraq and Osama bin Laden, and that there was no
evidence that Iraq was involved in the September 11 attacks.

But if you were watching the Fox News Channel, you saw something very
different, as the conservative cable network eagerly defended the Bush
administration and criticized the rest of the media for mishandling the
story.

On Fox's Special Report newscast (6/16/04), anchor Brit Hume charged that
the media were mischaracterizing the report: "The Associated Press leads
off its story on a new 9/11 commission report by saying the document
bluntly contradicts the Bush administration by claiming to have no
credible evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11 terrorist
attacks." Hume maintained that the AP story was inaccurate: "In fact, the
Bush administration has never said that such evidence exists."

In fact, it's Hume that is misrepresenting the AP story-- quoting from the
story's lead, but then changing its meaning through an inaccurate
paraphrase. The story actually begins: "Bluntly contradicting the Bush
administration, the commission investigating the September 11 attacks
reported Wednesday there was 'no credible evidence' that Saddam Hussein
had ties with Al Qaeda."

Hume changed the allegation, from Hussein having ties with Al Qaeda to his
having ties to the September 11 attacks, in order to knock it down,
claiming that the Bush administration never linked Iraq to September 11.
But that is not accurate either: Bush's letter to Congress formally
announcing the commencement of hostilities against Iraq (3/18/03)
explained that the use of force would be directed against "terrorists and
terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons
who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that
occurred on September 11, 2001." In his "Mission Accomplished" speech
aboard the U.S.S. Lincoln (5/1/03), Bush declared that the invasion of
Iraq had "removed an ally of Al Qaeda."

And during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press (9/14/03), when Vice
President Dick Cheney was asked if he was "surprised" that so many
Americans connected Iraq to the 9/11 attacks, Cheney responded:


"No. I think it's not surprising that people make that connection.... You
and I talked about this two years ago. I can remember you asking me this
question just a few days after the original attack. At the time I said
no, we didn't have any evidence of that. We've learned a couple of
things. We learned more and more that there was a relationship between
Iraq and Al Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the
'90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW weapons and chemical weapons], that Al Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to
get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing
bomb-making expertise and advice to the Al Qaeda organization."


Clearly, Cheney was describing exactly the sort of "collaborative
relationship" that the September 11 commission now says that Iraq did not
have with Al Qaeda, and stating that this relationship makes it "not
surprising" that people would connect Iraq with the September 11 attacks.

But Fox kept advancing the notion that the commission's report actually
backed up what the Bush administration has been saying. Hume explained
that Bush has long denied a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks,
while maintaining that "There's no question that Saddam Hussein had Al
Qaeda ties." This is, according to Hume, "an assertion the commission's
report actually supports."

The report indicates several meetings between Iraqi intelligence and bin
Laden, who was attempting to set up training camps in Iraq and procure
weapons. The Iraqis apparently "did not respond" to those requests. This
is a far cry from what most people would call a "tie" or a "connection."

And Cheney and Bush have long argued that Iraq/Al Qaeda "connections"
included weapons training and other "high-level contacts"; Bush has said
directly (11/7/02) that Husssein "is a threat because he's dealing with Al
Qaeda."

The commission's report does not support those allegations. The report
also indicated that the supposed meeting between 9/11 hijacker Mohammed
Atta and Iraqi intelligence officials in Prague probably never happened.
That meeting has been cited by Bush officials, most notably Cheney, as
evidence connecting Iraq to Al Qaeda and specifically to the 9/11 plot.

Fox reported on the report's implicit contradictions of administration
claims as if they were an invention of the media. On Hume's Special
Report show (6/16/04), the anchor got the ball rolling: "There were a lot
of media reports today that said that major, new cold water had been
tossed on the administration claims about Iraq and Al Qaeda. What about
it?"

Pundit Jeff Birnbaum of the Washington Post answered: "Well, I don't think
that that's true.... The Bush administration did not claim that there was
a connection between 9/11 and Iraq. That was not the claim. That was not
the claim. What, in fact, the staff report indicates is that there was
considerable interaction between bin Laden and Iraq. It may not have
produced all that much, but it was clear that they're fellow travelers."

NPR correspondent Mara Liasson continued: "I agree with Jeff. I mean, the
fact that the administration's arguments for going against Iraq was not
because it caused 9/11. Now, it's true that a lot of Americans did
conflate the two and did think that Saddam Hussein had something to do
with it." (In fact, a poll found that Fox viewers were the most likely
news consumers to believe this unsubstantiated claim--PIPA, 10/2/03.)

On June 17's Special Report, guest anchor Jim Angle claimed, "The 9/11
commission staff concluded there was no collaboration between the two to
attack the U.S. But critics suggested that meant no ties at all." The
commission actually said that there was no "collaborative relationship" at
all, not just on the question of attacking the United States.

When the White House struck back at the media over its coverage of the
report, some at Fox seemed enthusiastic. "The Bush administration strikes
back against the deceptive media," cheered Fox News host Bill O'Reilly,
before playing a clip of Cheney appearing on CNBC (6/17/04) characterizing
a New York Times headline as "outrageous."

O'Reilly did not air another portion of Cheney's interview in which he
lied about a previous statement he had made. When host Gloria Borger
mentioned that Cheney had previously described the meeting between 9/11
hijacker Mohammed Atta and Iraqi intelligence as "pretty well confirmed,"
Cheney interrupted: "No, I never said that... Absoutely not." But he had
said just that, on NBC's Meet the Press (12/9/01): ''That's been pretty
well confirmed that did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior
official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April,
several months before the attack.''

But for O'Reilly, it was other media that were deceptive: "Cheney has a
right to be angry, and so does every American who wants a truthful media,"
he explained. "Anti-Bush zealots are hurting the fight against terror by
misleading Americans about what's actually happening. That puts all of our
lives in danger."

It's not surprising that the Bush administration would try to parse the
meaning of words like "link" or "tie" in order to spin the commission
report in its favor. But journalists should challenge official spin, not
promote it.


ACTION: Ask the Fox News Channel why it sought to defend the Bush
administration, instead of reporting the facts about the interim report of
the 9/11 commission.

CONTACT:
Fox News Channel

--Special Report with Brit Hume
mailto:[e-mail]

--O'Reilly Factor
mailto:[e-mail]

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please send a copy of your correspondence to
[e-mail].



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[lanparty]

1. Hume should close his legs ...

... before opening his mouth.

I won't listen before then.

[Robb]

2. Wow

Fox eagerly defending the Bush administration.

In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. :)

[Redleg]

3. That f@ckwad Joe Scarborough tried the same thing on MSNBC.

A professor from University of Texas-Austin proceeded to smoke Joe like a cheap f@cking cigar.

The more these wingers get called on their b.s. the more they have to lie. It will all come undone.

[G_j]

4. they entirely depend on the audience not having a clue

and if that audience only watches FOX, then of course they are clueless.