On NBC, 'Expertise' Means Getting Iraq Wrong Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:22:42 -0600 (CST) http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3302 Action Alert On NBC, 'Expertise' Means Getting Iraq Wrong 2/28/08 In the February 26 Democratic primary debate, sponsored by MSNBC, NBC anchor Brian Williams questioned Democratic hopeful Barrack Obama about his fitness to compete in a presidential race with the "vast foreign policy expertise and credibility on national security" of Sen. John McCain. Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, "has compared your foreign policy expertise to that of George W. Bush at the same period," Williams said. "Provided you could be going into a general election against a Republican with vast foreign policy expertise and credibility on national security, how were her comments about you unfair?" Yet on what most would call the most important recent issue of "national security"--Iraq--McCain was stupendously wrong. In a pre-invasion interview on CNN (Late Edition, 11/29/02), McCain stated: We're not going to get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad. We may have to take out buildings, but we're not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies. He added, "I don't think it's, quote, 'easy,' but I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." On MSNBC (Hardball, 3/24/03), he stated that "we will be welcomed as liberators." In contrast, Obama made a prominent speech around the same time (10/2/02) that now seems strikingly prescient: But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al-Qaeda. The assumption of Williams' question is that the candidate who was completely wrong about the Iraq invasion has "vast expertise" and "credibility" on national security, while the candidate who correctly foresaw the consequences needs to prove his foreign policy qualifications. One wonders whether Williams is using "expertise" as a synonym for "hawkishness." ACTION: Please write to Brian Williams and remind him that expertise and hawkishness aren't the same thing. CONTACT: NBC Anchor Brian Williams Phone: 212-664-4971 Email: nightly@msnbc.com ****** Our subscriber list is kept confidential. To unsubscribe from this list at any time, visit our web at: http://www.demaction.org/fair/unsubscribe.jsp and follow the instructions. Or send an email to fair@democracyinaction.org with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Feel free to respond to FAIR ( fair@fair.org ). We can't reply to everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate documented examples of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to fair@fair.org. Your donation to FAIR goes a long way. Help us hold mainstream media accountable. Make a difference -- support FAIR today! http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=103 If you would prefer to receive these messages in HTML format, please visit our website to change your Email Preferences. Go to: http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/fair/signUp.jsp?key=708. SUBSCRIBE TO EXTRA! AND GET FAIR FOUNDER JEFF COHEN'S NEW BOOK FOR FREE: Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=106 FAIR SHIRTS: Get your "Don't Trust the Corporate Media" shirt today at FAIR's online store: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=110 FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 130 stations in the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=115 FAIR (212) 633-6700 http://www.fair.org/ E-mail: fair@fair.org