Charlie Rose Science Series
Click here to watch previous episodes of the Charlie Rose Science Series
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America
by Thomas L. Friedman
Buy it
by Thomas L. Friedman
Buy it
10/25/2007
Richard Engel, Ali Fadhil, Deborah Amos, John Palattella
A panel discussion on reporting Iraq
Keywords:
A panel discussion on reporting Iraq with Ali Fadhil an Iraqi journalist, Deborah Amos of NPR, John Palattella The Nation and Richard Engel of NBC and author of Reporting Iraq.
DVD
Charlie Rose DVDs on Amazon.
Charlie Rose DVDs on Amazon.
Audio
Audio available through Audible.com.
Audio available through Audible.com.
Transcripts
Transcripts available through Voxant.
Transcripts available through Voxant.
In these latest interviews, Charlie Rose, to his credit, did not ONCE try to justify the American invasion of Iraq by asking his usual boring and ignorant question: "Don't you think it was worth it because Saddam was such a tyrant?" Also I do not see even one person on or off the air so much as mention the word Israel. Yet Israel was the one other country that was pushing the invasion from the outset and is demanding that America now invade Iran on its behalf (what a f* nerve it has!)A cousin of mine in Israel does not speak to me anymore ever since I stated that the U.N. should approve the American invasion back in 2003. Once again: What a f* nerve!! heard I was insisting that the U.N. be involved before America invades Iraq.
I heard Tony Snow say yesterday on WLS Chicago that the U.S. now has a handle on the situation and that is why you hear fewer and fewer reports on Iraq. That may well be the case. I said early on that the U.S. needed to reposition itself in alliance with the minority Sunni community. According to Richard Engel (here) the U.S. seems to have done that. Now maybe the Shia majority will start to negotiate in good faith. On the other hand, maybe everyone really is just waiting for the surge to end. Maybe then we will begin to see where the IRAQIS are in their development. (NOTE: I also predicted from the start that the only thing that was going to resolve the whole Iraq situation was a strong dictator - one we would presumably approved. Call him Saddam II.) P.S. Cookie, I felt EXACTLY the same way about the Super Bowl comment.
Weâ??re not nice but weâ??re arrogant about it. 60 Minutes aired (10/28/07) egregious examples: air strikes on mud-huts in Afghanistan killing civilians, all the while white-washing it merely because they thought about trying to minimize civilian casualties. More today in Iraq. ARROGANCE! Even more along these lines: in Iraq the official civilian to bad-guy kill ratio of was (or is?) 30:1. ARROGANCE! Holy feces, I hope Iâ??m not around when retribution comes due. The Vietnamese, Cambodian napalming and carpet bombing, and Agent-orange are more historical memories for future aggressors to rationalize. Shock-and-awe, and Bring-it-on exemplified school-yard level ARROGANCE! Hearts and minds are not a goal, merely lip-service state-side. The assertion that Vietnam and Iraq both were and are meant to be SUSTAINED NOT WON, keeps the M-I in corn flakes and the Jingoists in rapture. And the small incidental of oil hegemony. Again, I would like to exhort all of you to read, THE END OF AMERICA, by Naomi Wolf. Naomi is a beautiful Jewish princess that has a soul worth looking into. She gives the Holocaust its even-handed due in the context of other world dictatorships and draws uncanny parallels (echos she calls them) with our evolving situation. It is powerful and needs reading - particularly by every CIA operative and agent wanna-be. Blackwater mercs as well.
To (re) emphasize because its quality warrants it. The pamphlet sized book (156 pps), "THE END OF AMERICA," by Naomi Wolf. Among other things reveals treatment of correspondents by US Army. It aint pretty. It's a must read. Scary - the echos of dictatorships being paralleled here in the "Homeland."
Hey Charlie! Longtime fan. You might and your viewers might be interested in the Wounded Warriors Project. Its a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness for U.S. troops severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. It really puts a face on the cost of this conflict. Here's a link: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/aarwebshow Jeff
Here is something to consider. Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil made the most poignant statement of the entire interview, that America should get out of Iraq because "they don't know what they are doing." This is the crux of the whole problem, not only in Iraq but the rest of the ME and Southern Asia as well. Americans are whoa fully ignorant of how the Islamic world functions, which leads to delusional policy making and heavy handed execution of said policies. When was the last time that American Intel had a success where the local SIS didn't make the collar? It is really hard being a CIA agent trying to blend into a market place in Baghdad, Islamabad or even Tehran when your wearing Docker slacks, a Polo shirt and aviator sunglasses.
I was struck that when Ali Fadhil (the one Iraqi voice at the table) said Americans should leave Iraq as soon as possible, the discussion then went on by the other panelists (non Iraqis) as to what the Americans should do in Iraq. I found all the journalists interesting, but isn't Iraq a sovereign nation? Isn't it for Iraqis to decide, when American troops leave the country? When you listen to most of the conversations on the airwaves or coming from Washington, you usually never get the sense that the decision regarding American troops has anything to do with what the Iraqi people might want or decide (it probably doesn't). On the week of Sept 11, 2007 there was plenty of coverage of General Petraeus (except for his 2004 op-ed piece) and his assessment of how the surge was working, but little coverage of the ABC/BBC/? poll of 2000+ randomly chosen Iraqis that 65% to 70% of them thought the surge had made things worse in their country. If you really wanted to know "the situation on the ground" in New York City wouldn't it be more instructive to ask its citizens then rely on foreign military experts who had been pretty consistently wrong in the past? Please continue to bring us more Iraqi voices. Perhaps Ms. Amos or Mir Rosen might go to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon and bring us conversations with some of the two million refugees.
For the time being, the US owns Iraq. It is responsible for the mayhem, the destruction, and the displacement of millions of Iraqis. Regardless of what Saddam was and did, he was one of their own and the US has no business interfering in the affairs of a sovereign nation. Any fool with half an ounce of brains can kill and destroy. It is evident that the US does not know what to do with Iraq. The shifting sands of harsh and brutal reality now stare right at the face of Bush and Cheney and they, frankly, do not know what to do besides rhetoric and propaganda. The US is in an invidious position. It cannot leave neither can it stay. By all accounts, Iraq is a failed state but many has prospered enormously from the debacle. A story of enormous human tragedy brought to millions in Iraq by a handful of men. The humiliation of defeat is a specter hovering over the US presence in Iraq. If ever there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it is a feeble light from a small candle.
I find these types of discussions somewhat uncomfortable for me because the focus is usually on the events as viewed through the "story" - which is more about the job of reporting as opposed to the actual events themselves. At those times I am simply eavesdropping and I am not sure I have the right filter to be able to judge what I am hearing. For example, when Ms Amos said Iraq was the "superbowl" of stories in front of Mr Fadhil - did he understand it impersonally or or did he cringe at the insensitivity of it as I did. On the other hand, I found it on the whole extremely educational in terms of what is really happening and since that is fairly rare, I thank you for the opportunity. All 4 members of the panel were excellent and I would enjpy seeing them all together again in the future.
Oops! I meant to write: Why did Saudi Arabia and Egypt get away with attacking America? Did Pakistan actually fund 9/11?
While watching Charlie Rose interview with Han Blix Charlie Rose said somthing that caught my attention and it was this: When Han Blix said, "That America should have given the UN inspectors a little more time." Charlie said, "That England, France,and Germany thought that Saddam had weapons."(It is so weird that even if these 3 Countries believed that SH had weapons then why is the United States the only country over there?) If this is true then were are their armies France obvious did'nt really believe that Saddam was a "threat" OR HAD WEAPON OF MASS DECEPTION!(Chirac) never sent any troops in and once the actual "invasion" occured France, Germany, and Russia bonded together!and looked the other way!(None of these Countries have standing armies in Iraq today!)(Now France and Germany have 2 goof balls as leader little napoleon with the "big" nose and little miss-no-neck in Germany)(These 2 fools in the end, are going to be on the "wrong" side of history!) and the English people didn't believe the "invasion" of Iraq was justified. (This England come on! (POODLE Boy! Tony (Airhead) Blair had an agenda along with Lil bush)sshhhh.... (To steal the Iraqi people resources (O-I-L) and assist that ugly monster called the MIC(MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX)and I think that the Brits are pulling further and further out of Iraq!(Under Gordon Brown....) (When was the last time that you heard that a Brit was killed Charlie Rose?)(Where is OBL?)(Why did Saudi Arabia and Egypt get away wth attacking America on 9/11?)(Do Paskistan fund 9/11? and did Afghanistan train the hijackers?)
N.B. Richard Engel not Engle.
From the link in Chris Baker's comment: "I smile as I give my children hugs and send them off to school; it's only after they turn their backs to me that my eyes fill to overflowing with the knowledge that they are just as much at risk as I am." -- Sahar Issa
Richard Engle nailed it. There is no plan (read desire) for peace. Sadly validates: ..........Zeitgeist (link below) that claims Vietnam, Iraq were not meant to be won, but â??SUSTAINED!â?? Keeps the M-I complex in corn flakes and jingoists in rapture. ... . ...................................http://zeitgeistmovie.com/ ............................... Ali Fadhil said it all, The Americans are a hindrance and should get out and let us Iraqis settle our situation ourselves. ......................................... Disappointed that they (intentionally?) failed to discuss the murdering of correspondents by our troops. From "The End of America," by Naomi Wolf, "...Reporters Without Borders noted that on April 8, 2003, 'three journalists were killed by the U.S. Army in a single day." The U.S. targeted the Palistine Hotel - headquarters for journalists. ..................................... Naomi's book is a compelling gut grabber!
The real story on Iraq journalism is the 6 reporters who were awarded Courage in Journalism Awards by the International Women's Media Foundation Tuesday in New York. They all worked for the Baghdad bureau of Knight-Ridder which became McClatchy newspapers. The only one who still works there, Sahar Issa, gave this acceptance speech: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/20779.html