CBS, White House in Dispute Over Saddam Interview

reuters ^ | 2/26/03

[knak]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House criticized CBS television on Wednesday over what a spokesman said was a spurned offer to rebut comments by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during an interview to be broadcast on Wednesday evening.

"This seems odd they wouldn't let the White House have a voice," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told Reuters.

He said the White House had offered a representative to counter what he said would be propaganda, lies and irresponsible statements by Saddam in the rare interview, but he said CBS replied it was interested only if President Bush made the response himself.

CBS rejected the charge and said it remained open to providing a forum for a top Bush administration official to respond to Saddam on the air.

"The conversation was never President Bush or no one," CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said. The White House had initially offered to send Fleischer for brief comments, but this was not accepted, she said. Fleischer denied that the White House had suggested any names.

CBS made a new offer on Wednesday, Genelius said. "If the president, the vice president or Secretary of State (Colin) Powell would like to appear on the program tonight we would be happy to have them appear on the program," Genelius said.

CBS was to air the interview by news anchor Dan Rather at 9:00 p.m. EST on its "60 Minutes II" program.

Recorded on Monday, it is the first interview Saddam has granted an American journalist in 13 years and comes as the United Nations prepares to debate whether to authorize a war on Iraq to enforce disarmament demands.

With saturation coverage by U.S. and international media, Bush has repeatedly accused Saddam of defying U.N. demands that he dismantle weapons of mass destruction programs -- a charge the Iraqi leader denies -- and of threatening to spread chemical, biological or nuclear weapons to terrorists. He is due to give another speech on Iraq earlier on Wednesday evening.

Fleischer said he was not concerned that Saddam's interview could sway opinion. "The American people can handle an interview with Saddam Hussein, but fairness suggests that the administration have a voice."

He acknowledged the interview was a journalistic coup for CBS, for which he said the network deserved congratulations.

"But it's also important to recognize, in the name of balance and in the name of not making a moral equivalence between a dictator and a democracy, that Iraq engages in propaganda and they will continue to engage in propaganda," he said.

A Bush administration officials also raised questions over the manner in which the interview was conducted, saying such conditions would never be accepted if set by Bush. The interview was filmed by Iraqi television, which also provided a translation and pieced together videotape from three separate cameras into a single recording.

Genelius said it is customary for Iraq to do the filming for such interviews, that CBS made a separate translation and that there appeared to be no deletions of the 1 hour, 45-minute interview in the final tape given to CBS. The interview will be edited to fit the program's one-hour length.

[Semper Paratus]

Screw CBS, they're making CNN look fair and balanced.

[smith288]

"BIAS"

[gcruse]

"But it's also important to recognize, in the name of balance and in the name of not making a moral equivalence between a dictator and a democracy, that Iraq engages in propaganda and they will continue to engage in propaganda," he said.

Ooops.  I don't believe I would have used propaganda as a refutation of moral equivalence between a democracy and a dictatorship.  One needn't point exclusively to the faux radio station broadcasting into Iraq to show the use of propaganda by a democracy.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  'Holier than thou' must be used with caution.

[Calpernia]

So isn't this 'aiding' terrorism? I don't see this a free speech or reporting news. I see this as helping a terrorist get his message out.

[linn37]

very interesting

[Semper Paratus]

CBS = Constant B*** S***

[Dan(9698)]

There was a story yesterday that the Iraq information guys were editing the tape before CBS could have it.

It is BS pure and simple.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I will not watch cbs for this interview; I will watch FOX in the coming days for the most important interview parts. We all should do this if at all possible.

[Tall_Texan]

Dan Rather is a Saddamite.

[Real Cynic No More]

Dan Rather and CBS don't share all the responsibility, but they share the primary responsibility for the public's loss of support for our soldiers in VietNam, responsible for our returning soldiers being called "baby-killers". They're now playing from the same script with Iraq, apparently for the purpose of winning some kind of ratings competition.

[aShepard]

You would think that the White House would demand a copy of the tape before air time to be sure that it met all the fairness guidelines of the FCC.

Now, if Bush responds to the interview, does that mean that the RATS get a chance for facetime rebuttal??

[k2blader]

CBS made a new offer on Wednesday, Genelius said. "If the president, the vice president or Secretary of State (Colin) Powell would like to appear on the program tonight we would be happy to have them appear on the program," Genelius said.

It is truly evil for CBS to do this. Not even going to mention what I think of them doing the interview in the first place.

[YourAdHere]

Can somebody please post a picture of Dan Rather in this thread so that we can make fun of it?

[Bars4Bill]

[McGruff]

CBS was to air the interview by news anchor Dan Rather at 9:00 p.m. EST on its "60 Minutes II" program

So do we get to call him "Prime Time Dan" now?

[WorldWatcher1]

[Diddle E. Squat]

Can somebody please post a picture of Dan Rather in this thread so that we can make fun of it?

Here ya go:

[McGruff]

[WomanofStandard]

Dan Rather has this interview under his belt only because "his good friend Ramsey Clark set it up with Saddam for him". That should tell you something right there!