Cronkite: Terrorism a "Revolution of the Poor Against the Rich"

Media Research Center ^ | Tuesday September 10, 2002 | staff

[fight_truth_decay]

Blame America First. The 9-11 attacks were our own fault, former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite contended on Monday's Larry King Live on CNN, because we hog so much of the world's wealth while many are destitute.

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened," before he asserted that anti-U.S. terrorism is caused by "this great division between the rich and the poor in the world." The people of the world "who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education," Cronkite warned, "are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly." Walter Cronkite attributed terrorism to U.S. policy and world poverty: "We are suffering from a revolution of the...have-nots against the...haves and that's us."

Applying liberal logic which seeks to blame the U.S. for all the world's ills, Cronkite declared: "We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

In fact, the al Qaeda terrorists were hardly poor and the vast majority of the world's poor do not support terrorism. The common elements amongst those targeting the U.S. is Islamic extremism and nation's without respect for individual liberty.

Cronkite's liberal ranting came about 45 minutes into the live September 9 interview tied to the 9-11 anniversary.

King prompted Cronkite by wondering about "foreign policy's affect on what might have caused 9-11?"

That set off Cronkite: "Yes, I think very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened." King interjected: "Doesn't excuse it." But Cronkite plowed forward without acknowledging King's caveat, so he presumably did not agree with it: "We have been warned by other terrorist attacks elsewhere of the dislike for us and the intensity of organization to express that dislike in various terrorist acts around the country -- the two embassies that were blown up in Africa, the Destroyer Cole, for instance, episode, and that sort of thing. "It should be apparent to us, it should have been apparent to us a long time ago and it certainly should be apparent now -- it should be, for goodness sakes understood now, but it is not, that the problem is this great division between the rich and the poor in the world. We represent the rich. Each of our citizens is not rich, of course, but as a country we are exceedingly rich. As a country, all of these, most of these other nations of Africa, Asia and South America and Central America are very, very poor. The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies, in our travels around the world, in our airlines, in our shipping. "They're not going to put up with that forever. This is a revolution in effect around the world. A revolution is in place today. We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

Yes, it's all our fault and Osama bin Laden is just trying to help the world's downtrodden improve themselves.

[tm61]

these liberals just cant imagine someone acting out of religious beliefs, to them it all comes down to the disadvantaged poor and what the American taxpayers have to do to help them. Idiots.

[DuncanWaring]

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened..."

And that would also explain why the Talibani blew up the ancient Bhudda statues?

[Bigg Red]

POS stands for piece of s----

[aSkeptic]

walter crackpipe?

[Naspino]

We HOG the world's wealth? What a load. We generate the world's wealth and give way too damn much of it away.

[Whispering Smith]

Said from the quarter deck of his megamillion dollar yatch on Long Island Sound.

[MoGalahad]

Dear Walter:
Repent!! Your time is short 'servant of Lucifer'.

[Republic]

Poor Walter....that he likes to hang in the gutter with liberal elites was sorry news in this household. We only learned this silly old man who so much wants 'gravitas' to flow from his every word was a dem a few years back.

For him to make such and absurd comment about terrorism is pretty hysterical, considering bin pigpen, himself, was a multi-millionaire many times over, and filthy, impotent saddam is a rich coward as well. Come on Walter....wake up!

[doug from upland]

What an ass. Bin Laden is not poor. It is a battle of radical Islamists who want to kill Western Civilization. Oil gives that region incredible wealth and everyone in those stinking countries should have a very good standard of living. Stuff it, Walter.

[Razz Barry]

The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies, in our travels around the world, in our airlines, in our shipping.

Walter should send all his money to the poor, if this is how he thinks. I, for one, would love to stop "flaunting" our riches by ending foreign aid. Just tell them we have to spend the money rebuilding the WTC & Pentagon.

[shetlan]

I like your "Who cares?" opinion (post 90.)

Albeit, it's annoying to know that brave men are willing to give their lives so self serving over-the-hill reporters like Cronkite can publicly 'attribute terrorism to U.S. policy.'

[Samwise]

Will someone please explain to me why this man is "the most trusted man in America"?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Why can't that old fart crawl in a corner and die somewhere?

[JimSEA]

You are correct. The poor, if they appear at all, are rent-a-crowd participants. Look at Indonesia, the Univeristy students and the professionals, trained and equiped by rich Arabs, start things with the urban poor going along for the gain from looting. The rural poor just hope to be ignored.

[strider44]

Thanks. We spend too much time trying to discern motives. Is annoying the right word to use about those brave me you speak of though? A quote from Jefferson that I'm sure has been posted on FR before says it all - "The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Patriots." Someone has to do it. I'm glad it won't be Cronkite.

[mitchbert]

And it's no different in our world. Whenever there's a significant protest in Toronto some enterprising reporter manages to find a couple of homeless folks who have no idea why they're marching other than to get the dinner chit.

[Spiff]

Spiff: Cronkite and the rest of the leftist media a "Revolution of the drooling morons against the Intelligent."

[Eaglefixer]

As a USAF Squadron Commander in 1981 I learned that Walter was a closet communist. I learned this through briefs recieved by commanders. He had hid his politics a long time. I think in the media knows this but will never reveal it.

[MichaelP]

Walter: How many of your millions have you given to the world's poor? Do you think of the worlds poor while sailing in your yacht?

You are such a hypocrite!

Mike

[Ohioan]

Cronkite, a knee jerk "Liberal," always epitomized the idea of the "talking head." A man, with virtually no analytical abilities, he parlayed a voice full of impressive intonations into a successful TV career. But why would anyone care to have his analysis of world affairs?

There may have been a few revolutions by the "have nots" against the "haves," on a local scene. But the great revolutions of world history were always engineered by sociopaths in the leisure class, seeking to exact vengeance on their more contented associates for wrongs, real or imagined. (The American "Revolution" was really a counter-Revolution, against a sudden explosion of British meddling in our domestic concerns.)

The genuine "have nots" of the world, seldom have the brains, much less the resources and spare time, to plan serious revolutions. Walter is just parroting the line that Bill Clinton and others have taken up, to try to promote Fabian Socialist goals in the present exigency.

For a different perspective on the present confrontation, see The War On Terror.

William Flax