Missing Weapons "New"s Story to Be Broadcast by CBS on Election Eve

[Overpaid Slacker]

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUE OCT 26 2004 11:02:38 ET XXXXX

60 MINS PLANNED BUSH MISSING EXPLOSIVES STORY FOR ELECTION EVE

News of missing explosives in Iraq -- first reported in April 2003 -- was being resurrected for a 60 MINUTES election eve broadcast designed to knock the Bush administration into a crises mode.

Jeff Fager, executive producer of the Sunday edition of 60 MINUTES, said in a statement that "our plan was to run the story on October 31, but it became clear that it wouldn't hold..."

Elizabeth Jensen at the LOS ANGELES TIMES details on Tuesday how CBS NEWS and 60 MINUTES lost the story [which repackaged previously reported information on a large cache of explosives missing in Iraq, first published and broadcast in 2003].

The story instead debuted in the NYT. The paper slugged the story about missing explosives from April 2003 as "exclusive."

An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.

According to NBCNEWS, the explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived.

It is not clear who exactly shopped an election eve repackaging of the missing explosives story.

The LA TIMES claims: The source on the story first went to 60 MINUTES but also expressed interest in working with the NY TIMES... "The tip was received last Wednesday."

CBSNEWS' plan to unleash the story just 24 hours before election day had one senior Bush official outraged.

"Darn, I wanted to see the forged documents to show how this was somehow covered up," the Bush source, who asked not to be named, mocked, recalling last months CBS airing of fraudulent Bush national guard letters.

Developing...

How are you not embarrassed to your core if you get taken in by this gaming the media for political smear? CBS' timing was just a coincidence? The Times timing of re-running an old story was just coincidence? C'mon.

JP

[chibone_914]

A prime example of the democRATic party machine in high gear.

[Mule]

And their un-biased media cohorts.

[island911]

[bryanthompson]

Democrats INSIST that there were no WMD in Iraq, right.

Is it possible that in this 380 TONS of weapons had WMD in it? These weapons were moved before we got there, why? Why were these moved and 400,000 tons of other weapons were left?

How can they blame this on Bush when NBC's own reporter said that the weapons were gone when their embedded unit got there?

Where's the outrage that CBS News and New York Times were cooperating to bring this story out after 18 months to a time when it would be most damaging to Bush?

[ubiquity0]

What a crock of *****e. How on earth is 60 minutes going to get together a ‘story’ on that? Basically when the war began the UN left & by the time that part of the country was liberated by the US the stockpile was missing. So???

Between this, 1968 MS-word ‘memos’, other “news events” recalling news of 35 years ago all strategically timed just before the election its pretty clear that the media loves to wipe it’s a$$ on the American people.

[island911]

CBS Broadcasting owners, realizing they have an serious reliability /image problem, have begun testing other potential news anchors under the strict eye of CBS executive focus groups.



They know they face fading further away unless they step-up the trustworthiness of their Anchor, Dan Ra^ther.



The focus groups are said to be going well.

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wait for it

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[ubiquity0]

Originally posted by bryanthompson

How can they blame this on Bush when NBC's own reporter said that the weapons were gone when their embedded unit got there?

Well, not exactly. Monitoring the stockpile was the UN’s responsibility until the US initiated military action. Its true that its not Bush’s fault that the US was not able to deliver troops to the area the very day the war started. Its is, however, a product of Bush’s decision to go to war without UN approval. You just have to accept that situations like that may happen as a result.

[928ram]

Notice how loudly the "380 tons of boom boom" thread has been dumbfounded.

But what about the other issue here; Kerry has once again fail the leadership test. Spouting off yesterday about this "story", the "senator" not only insulted the military but accused them of incopetence. As a "senator" he has an obligation to find the truth in a situation like this before he shoots off his mouth and lets himself be spoon-fed by the biased media. One would likely be on the mark to assume that the Kerry group knew of the story before it hit the newsstand.
Today, the Kerry campaign is standing by the original NYT story and in fact have it plastered on their website (I have a plan just see my website). So in effect what Kerry's people are saying is that they know the story flawed, they know that the people know it was flawed, but they just don't care. I guess they are counting on the ignorance of their core voting bloc.

So where are the explosives? Assuming that they were in fact still there in January, it seems unlikely that they stole away into the night with the US forces coming one way and Saddam's backing up the other. It is far more likely and probable that an organized effort to move them was carried out sometime between January and April; maybe they were relocated and buried, or sold, or given back to the supplier.
Another piece of flawed logic is that the terrorists/insurgents got their hands on 380 tons of high explosives and sectioned it out into little piles to make IEDs out of; with enough power to bring down a couple of buildings it is hundreds of times more likely that that is exactly what it'd be used for, and we haven't seen that.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Ubiquity - I'm with you. It's not just the shots at Republicans --
BUT in 1992 it was Iran Contra charges on the eve of the election
in 2001 it was W's DUI charges on the eve of the election... no pattern here, move along...

it's the fact that they're playing the rank-and-file of the left for fools. OK, some of them want to fall for it; but most, I believe, don't know any better and are just taken in by it.

Every time W makes a mistake, it's a LIE!!!!! Frankly, it's a LIE!!!!!! even when he doesn't make a mistake and quotes or actions are maliciously attributed to him. Where IS the outrage over our media that deceive or attempt to decieve us for their own agenda?

JP

[concentric]

Who watches 60 minutes, anyway? Network news is a piece of crap, generally.

More of the same, folks. I can't even muster outrage any more.

JCM

[dhoward]

Breaking news: "Dan Rather ignites gasoline with cigarette. Tape at 10"

[cegerer]