Yeah right. The panel may not be able to conclude that, but the public certainly can read between the lines. The ONLY reason this piece was aired when it was was a political agenda. They just didn't count on it being refuted as quickly as it was. They didn't care if they had to apologize under a Kerry administration, that was the whole point. Rather and crew were on a political mission, there's no doubt about it. Journalistic integrity was tossed not to be the first to break the big story, but to turn the tide away from Bush. This was election tampering plain and simple.
Everyone knows this but CBS would face fines and would face immediate destructioon if this were admitted to.However, because it was true, they still face extinction....over time.
If I recall, the Kerry campaign at the time had an ad on Bush's National Guard service ready to run at the same time; I think the firestorm broke before it had, and it was pulled.