True ‘Fair And Balanced’ Coverage: Wallace Calls Out Feith For Lying On Fox News
True ‘Fair And Balanced’ Coverage: Wallace Calls Out Feith For Lying On Fox News
Last week on Fox News Sunday, former Rumsfeld aide Douglas Feith told Chris Wallace, “Nobody in my office ever said there was an operational relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. It’s just not correct. I mean, words matter.”
Fox News pursued the matter and did a follow-up report this week. Wallace reported, “It turns out he did make that case [that there was an operational relationship] in a memo he sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee in October of ‘03.” Watch it:
UPDATE: Laura Rozen notes that she caught this inaccuracy last week.
Transcript:
WALLACE: Now a follow-up to our interview last Sunday with former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. Many of you asked us to check out the claim. Here’s what he said to us.
FEITH: Nobody in our office said there was an operational relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda. It’s not correct. Words matter.
WALLACE: But it turns out he did make that case in a memo he sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee in October of ‘03. “The Weekly Standard,” which saw the memo, described it this way. “Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training and explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda.”
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My feet are getting awful cold…I think hell is starting to freeze over…
February 18th, 2007 at 11:46 amThis can’t be good for their ratings…
February 18th, 2007 at 11:48 amFeith is a lying Neocon stooge. He was hired by the Bush Regime to cook up falsified Intel on Saddam to justify an invasion of Iraq. He did his job.
February 18th, 2007 at 11:49 amThe 2 statements are , like, EXACT OPPOSITES.
February 18th, 2007 at 11:52 amMaybe Feith wasn’t in his office when he wrote the memo?
Oh, wait. The Weekly Standard. That’s Bill Kristol’s paper. You don’t really believe anything he says, do you?
February 18th, 2007 at 11:54 amCan Feith be arrested now?
February 18th, 2007 at 11:55 amHoly crap! Did his father’s genes finally kick in?
February 18th, 2007 at 11:55 amFEITH: Nobody in our office said …
well, there is a difference between SAYING and WRITING…
February 18th, 2007 at 11:59 amespecially if you’re a republic neoCON…
This isn’t surprising. I don’t think anyone associated with this administration is capable of telling the truth.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:00 pmUmm … so whats his angle? He cant just be telling it like it is …this is fox news… I dont get it… he must be lieing about some part of that report.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:02 pmSo what + who cares. Everyone, even repubgs know they are lying all the time. How is this news?
February 18th, 2007 at 12:06 pmthis is days- to a week-old story…
did tony snow say or do ANYthing on MTP worth a new thread?
February 18th, 2007 at 12:07 pmsurely…
Feith is the scapegoat.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:08 pmIn a way this is a diversion to blame Feith for the Iraq Fiasco War. Bush and Cheney are totally to blame for Iraq debacle, but they need others to take the fall for it. Dubya and Dicky will claim they had no idea that Feith cooked up Intel on Iraq for them. Feith is expendable to them. I would not be surprised if he is found dead soon and reported he committed suicide.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:10 pmwhen are we going to start arresting these treasonous neo-cons?
February 18th, 2007 at 12:13 pmOther Neocons will be found dead or killed in auto accidents or plane crashes too.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:17 pm“Many of you asked us to check out the claim.”
Now? Four years later? Why Chris? Why now? Are you saying absolutely none of your viewers asked you to check it out then? Or that it never occurred to YOU to check it out then? Why didn’t you have this information available to you when Feith was sitting right in front of you?
What’s your f*cking angle, Chris Wallace?
February 18th, 2007 at 12:18 pmThis is just a pychological trick..
They spent a short moment on Feith’s claim – then
gave a long detailed description of the alleged connnection
between Al Qaeda and Iraq – the true purpose was to
repeat the lies about the connection in all the glorious
detail -
The viewers will find solice in hearing these lies repeated
No where did they point out that these were lies – the
February 18th, 2007 at 12:18 pmpoint was just that Feith somehow has forgotten that
he made these accuasations.
The new spin out of the White House is going to be that Neocons conned Bush and Cheney into invading Iraq and that they had no idea it was just to get the oil for Israel. Dubya and Dicky will throw anybody under the bus to save their criminal selves. They will even lay the blame on comatose Sharon in Israel, because he is just a vegetable and will never talk again.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:22 pmMy original comment didn’t make the cut, apparently.
I’ll boil it down for the spam filter: WHY NOW?
February 18th, 2007 at 12:32 pmTony Snow keeps coming back to this: “Snow said it was important to remove Saddam from power and noted that a majority of senators voted in 2002 to authorize force in Iraq.”
Now why doesn’t anyone in the Mainstream Media bring up the fact that starting a war of aggression for the purpose of regime change is a violation of the law?
Next, shifting the blame to “the majority of senators” ignores the fact that those who voted for the AUMF were lied to by the Administration.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:35 pmIt will be weird to watch when Bush and Cheney really get desperate. When they lay the blame on John McCain and other stupid GOPer Senators. Heck they may even blame Traitor Joe Lieberman if all else fails > lol.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:36 pmthe true purpose was to repeat the lies about the connection…
The viewers will find solice in hearing these lies repeated
No where did they point out that these were lies – the
point was just that Feith somehow has forgotten that
he made these accuasations.
Comment by Lillian Reid — February 18, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
ok… now THAT is very good thinking… thank you…
February 18th, 2007 at 12:36 pmi’m getting it now…
WHY NOW?
Comment by Zooey — February 18, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
Something really bad must be coming down the pike for Feith when even Fox News turns on him. Feith might want to consider moving to a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:38 pm“Words” matter? What about the “acts” of lying? What about the “acts” of deliberate distortions and misleading half-truths? What about the “acts” of witholding facts and expert opinions that contradict White House spin? What about the “acts” of killing, creating human suffering, causing collateral damage, unecessary destruction and political coverup? What matters is the “truth” and that this White House feels no moral or political commitment to it. There can be no trust were there is no truth.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:42 pmFaire > Feith is a goner now. He would be wise to stay off airplanes and not go driving anywhere either. Heck he is screwed, because hiding in his home he is not safe.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:42 pmNow why doesn’t anyone in the Mainstream Media bring up the fact that starting a war of aggression for the purpose of regime change is a violation of the law?
Next, shifting the blame to “the majority of senators†ignores the fact that those who voted for the AUMF were lied to by the Administration.
Comment by Briseadh na Faire
Good point – and the AUMF allowed for military force as a last resort – but once Bush got the approval, he just went ahead with already formulated war plans.
As for regime change – wasn’t it the right-wing nuts who bashed Clinton constantly about Bosnia and this “nation building” thing? Funny how they forget that… (there are plenty of quotes from right-wing types bashing Clinton’s policies – yet I don’t believe any Americans lost their lives in Bosnia…)
February 18th, 2007 at 12:44 pmFeith could flee to the Israeli Embassy in DC, but he is too hot for them to touch now. He is radioactive to them.
February 18th, 2007 at 12:51 pm#13-nerdoff
Um, don’t you think he’s more like a trouser-trout than a scapegoat?
February 18th, 2007 at 1:14 pmSpudge > trouser-trout sounds like another phrase for something sexual, but I could be wrong > lol.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:22 pmYou know…….
When FOX News stops putting up with the lying neocon BS, it is time for the neocons to hang up their jock straps.
When they come out next week and out Bill Kristol as the lying, war-mongering coward that he is………. I may even start watching that network!!
February 18th, 2007 at 1:24 pmEarp > I bet Bill Kristol flees to Israel soon > only safe place for him now.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:30 pmThis is where the evil that is the Republican agenda becomes clear, lie often, lie big, never recant. There are now so many Urban Legends associated with Republican lies it will take a Century of Myth Buster Episodes to cover them all.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:39 pmi had to be sure, so i looked it up…
thought so! … heh…
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trouser-trout
February 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pmThere are now so many Urban Legends associated with Republican lies it will take a Century of Myth Buster Episodes to cover them all.
Comment by lynn — February 18, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
well, finally, a REAL reality show someone could capitalize on…
February 18th, 2007 at 2:05 pmi’d watch it, but i’m already LIVING it… the story WILL be told…
they’re discovering that Feith-based intel is unreliable and of dubious quality…
February 18th, 2007 at 2:09 pmwaddasoooo-prahs!
It depends on what the meaning of the word “in” is.
-
February 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pmFeith-based intelligence is no intelligence at all.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pmThats a weird feeling i just had reading this. it is undescribable. it makes no sense (fox doing some actual reporting on a neocon). are they trying to bring over the ‘centrists’ is viewership waning? i don’t believe for a minute that anything Fox news does is spontaneous.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:22 pmNow can we string this bastard up, stuff his pie-hole full of candy, and give every American a whack at him with a stick? It should be the shared fate of this entire administration: “Neocon Pinatas”.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:29 pmi don’t believe for a minute that anything Fox news does is spontaneous.
Comment by Devin — February 18, 2007 @ 2:22 pm
you could add bushco to that sentiment… either way, i agree…
February 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pmMaybe Chris Wallace sees himself in as being in the same mold as his father, Mike Wallace, only conservative. Maybe he just doesn’t like being lied to. The lies in that memo from Feith are pure fantasy, so over the top that, maybe even a reporter from Fox News gets his dander up when made a fool of.
While some of the other theories posted are very interesting and plausable, usually the simplest answer is the most likely.
Surely some of Mike Wallace’s qualities had to rub off on his son?
February 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pmSpeaking of Fox News, On Sunday night Sean Hannity will unveil his latest smear campaign against Al Gore. Hoping to portray the Oscar and Nobel-nominated Gore as a “Gulfstream Liberal,” the Hannity’s America hit segment will try to paint the former Vice President as a private jet flying, carbon-burning, global warming machine.
And Sean Hannity should know. After all, when it comes to hypocrisy over extravagant travel on private aircraft, Hannity is the master of hot air.
For the details, see:
February 18th, 2007 at 3:12 pm“The Plane Truth: Private Jet-Setter Hannity Attacks Gore.”
it smells like wet scapegoat
February 18th, 2007 at 3:20 pmPlant the evidence, discover the evidence, evaluate that evidence, and low a’ be hold it is the best source of evidence supporting Dick Cheney and Bush Jr. for attaching Iraq because Iraq and Al Qaeda operationally connected.
Great fiction but a horrorable committment of TREASON.
February 18th, 2007 at 4:29 pmWow!!
When you are called a Liar by FOX news you have really hit bottom.
February 18th, 2007 at 4:49 pmFeith, meet wheels on bus.
February 18th, 2007 at 5:03 pmFox was duped?
Nooooo!!!!
hahahahahahaha!!!!
…bullsh*t, Murdoch sees there’s a hole in that water bucket…
February 18th, 2007 at 5:31 pmIt was unusual to see FOX call Feith on his lie, but my immediate resonse to Wallace’s expose was why didn’t he turn to the editor of the Weekly Standard on his panel to ask him about the false claim? Apparently Cheney cited the Weekly Standard article as his best source of verifiability as to Iraq and al Qaeda connections. You’d think Kristol would be able to immediately clear the viability of the sourcing up to the viewers? Not doing so cleared up a lot in my mind.
February 18th, 2007 at 5:36 pmPlease don’t be fooled for the umpteenth time. When Fox throws you a bone, they are just trying to distract you. DUH.
Feith had no business tweaking the CIA estimate which, in and of itself, has always been the final word – a finished product. Someone ordered this addition of color, smell and texture to that finished product.
This bone is too small. We still need to know: How deep was Cheney’s involvement in this deliberate and calculated misinformation plus what did the President know and when did he know it.
February 18th, 2007 at 5:45 pmThis is like the pot calling kettle black. They’re liars, the whole lot of them. They lie if it suits their interests, and then lie about having lied.
These people also think everybody else is stupid, that the rest of us will forget what they told us, or that some of what they said was not recorded by someone somewhere.
Now if FauxNews could also show some integrity and disavow all the “pundits”, “experts”, and assorted insiders they trotted in front of their cameras to tell us what a great threat Hussein’s regime was to the rest of the world.
I won’t hold my breath though…
February 18th, 2007 at 10:37 pmThank you Abby
February 18th, 2007 at 11:14 pmIt’s too bad “great journalists” will never get a shot at true,straight forward investigative journalism with the MSM the way it is anymore.
Then I think of all the wasted “resources” these news groups wield and it is such a shame that what comes out of the pen, the camera, and the typewriter these days is like a form-letter melodrama of what reallty ISN”T happening in the world today.
Up is down, down is up, left is right, right is left, cold is hot, hot is cold.
I just did a doubletake on my calendar, nope it’s still 2007 and not 1984 like I thought.
There is a 23 year timewarp here from 1984-2007.
To know what is happening today, one needs only look at America’s recent history say in the last 50 years.
1957-2007
If there is a political chronology of the past 50 years, I shall attempt to find it and post here. If it’s too long I will just post the link and a brief.
Here is a good start.
http://www.tarpley.net/bushb.htm
George HW Bush: The Unauthorized Biography
by Webster Tarpley and Anton Chaitkin
It’s also downloadable in .zip format at the above link or HTML on same link.
Always start at the “root” and follow it’s “stems.”
February 19th, 2007 at 1:00 amThis Feith thing is just a drop in the media swill bucket. The story got little notice overall in the tsunami of Anna Nicole Smith, diapered female astronaut and now a shaved head Brittany Spears. Most people in this country probably didn’t hear a thing about Feith, don’t know who he is and will never know, but they will know all the details about Anna Nicole’s corpse.
TV news is all about the visual, a memo to Congress just doesn’t cut it for a “good” story that needs any type of footage to be endlessly replayed to make the stories point. That’s the true reason Anna Nicole Smith’s deadness is such a good TV news story, exhaustive footage of her alive and even a few minutes of her covered carcass on a gurney. And I can’t help being suspicious that Brittany purposely shaved her head to get noticed and to steal a few minutes of news airtime away from a dead bimbo.
The Feith news cycle lasted all of about half a day, there just wasn’t much footage of him I’m betting. Besides, it’s old news, most of the country attributes the Iraq War as a lie or at the least, intel mistakes.
It’s hard to say what Fox has as it’s agenda with this report. It could be simply “following the money” acknowledging the drop in ratings and the coinciding dissatisfaction with the Iraq War. But that won’t be known for awhile, they will need to be monitored over a long period. It also could be that there are a few reporters and writers at Fox that can be like most people and hate being lied to, and when faced with an unarguable piece of evidence grabbed the chance to air their feelings in spite of the top management. Or like Lillian said (#17) just a trick to get the actual lie repeated again. Who knows?
The TV news media is a paradox of truthful or useful information as opposed to ratings. If Anna Nicole Smith’s cadaver and who owns it is more important than the just released federal budget (as judged by coverage) than it is safe to say that TV news is more about what video is available than useful information. And Fox News was all over Anna Nicole, they draped her with as much coverage as, well, the sheet over her dead body.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:32 amComment by jon b
Spot on.
February 19th, 2007 at 3:29 amFeith should be put to death for treason.
If justice cannot be gained in court, I would consider it
true justice if a mother of a dead soldier took revenge
upon Feith.
Feiths Lies have cost American mothers thousands of sons
and Iraqi mothers tens if not hundreds of thousands of sons.
One can only hope that Feiths masters in Israel will meet
their judgement at the hands of God.
Feith has now created a whole new generation of anti semitism
that will threaten Jews who had nothing to do with his lies.
Feith should be sent to the Guantanamo concentration camp
for questioning so the mothers of the dead can find peace in
knowing the man who murdered their sons is shown justice.
………..
February 19th, 2007 at 4:47 amTo hell with impeachment. Treason trial for both them – if found guilty execute.
February 19th, 2007 at 6:06 amI fully agree with Lillian @ 17. The last words spoken on this show were a repeat of the lies that Fieth had told. Considering the length of the litany of lies combined with the short attention span of a typical Faux Views viewer, it was what amounted to a reaffirmation of the same old lies disguised as a disclaimer. If you don’t believe this look at the smile on Kristol’s face as the camera pans the panel one last time at the show’s closing. He’s all but laughing, and for good reason!
February 19th, 2007 at 7:44 amFEITH HAS SERVED HIS NATION WELL Too bad that nation is Israel.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:58 amWrong – the keyword is “operational”. They have discussions, training . . . but have not been tied together for a specific “operation” or act of terrorism. There are documented links of meeting. So these are two separate statements your twisting again.
February 19th, 2007 at 9:44 amIt is evidently required of all political appointees in the Bush Administration that they have some determination to lie when deemed necessary.
February 19th, 2007 at 10:50 amSo the lies just keep a-comin’
I find your LIBTARD derangement and hatred being directed at the only mainstream news outlet which allows opinions other than ones given by the likes of leftwing hacks such as Chris “mouthbreather” Matthews and Keith “failed sportscaster” Olbermann to be absolutely telling of your blind sheep like following of anyone with a capital D behind their name. By the way, when will good ol’ Keith do another “Special commentary” or w/e he calls that lame ass leftwing sewage he spills forth every once in awhile? This time focusing on his abuse of women or his “lack of size”? No wonder he loves slick willy and the rest of the Clintonista crew. Utterly pathetic, even for a group of drooling LIBTARDS. Congrats on Airhead America too, btw. mwahahaha. WE STILL OWN YOU BITCHES UNTIL YOUR LIBTARD POLITICIANS GET THE GUTS TO PULL ANOTHER VIETNAM. I’m guessing they might not though, seeing as how they don’t control ALL the media any longer, and thus will be shown to be the “white flag” party of they really are.
February 19th, 2007 at 3:25 pmI love troll posts like that!
Fox News is the only outlet allowing non-liberal opinions AND AT THE SAME TIME conservatives apparently own the media. Excellent hypocracy and only about two sentences apart. That even beats the best Bush/Cheney hypocracy!
Congratulations.
Next time make sure your talking points don’t disagree with each other.
February 19th, 2007 at 3:29 pmCameron_the_libtard_slayer:
Any troll worth his salt knows that bold type is not enough. Nothing conveys your superior points and higher intellect better than a post in bold AND in full caps.
You almost convinced me but not quite. Try again but this time with some feeling. Remember: BOLD AND ALL CAPS.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:35 pm[...] Feith only questioned the CIA when they were putting out analyses that didn’t match his imaginary theories of an al Qaeda-Iraq [...]
April 7th, 2007 at 12:48 pm