Discussion: The Only Person Backing Brian Williams' Iraq Story Just Backtracked

TPM Article Topics
1

Discussion for article #232969

2

Huh.

Imagine that.

3

First he got shot at.

Then he did.

Then he didn’t

Jesus, this is like watching a weather vane in a tornado.

4

Want some cinnamon and sugar to put on that “toast”, Brian and NBC News?
I really hate that smarmy fucker, and always did. But what I find truly funny is how FoxNews and the rest of their RW fucknut acolytes are going after Williams like he is a liberal firebrand when he has constantly shown himself to have his head firmly up their assholes, just like that other left-wing paragon, Matt Lauer.
I guess right-wingers must be pretty tasty, considering how often they devour their own. Pass the blue cheese dipping sauce, won’t you please, Mr. Ailes?

2 Likes
5

Surely there is a log that documented what happened. I mean come on. Someone should ask the military to confirm or not confirm what happened. Look if Brian lied he lied, but if there is some truth to his story than there should be confirmation written down. I know that when I worked in civil service for the AF everything was documented. Why hasn’t real journalist asked for that report.

2 Likes
6

You know, reading this article and Mr. Krell’s statement about wishing to not remember those years in Iraq and Afghanistan brought back those strong feelings I had back then thinking how awful it is going to be for those soldiers who went over there to fight a war we chose to instigate and the horrendous things these folks are going to be subjected to will haunt so many Americans for many decades to come. I really wish Bush, Cheney and Company could/would be forced to face the music for leading the world down that rat hole. The American response to the atrocities of 9/11 was so very misguided … and deliberately so.

5 Likes
7

It’s telling that no confirmation of his story has been put forth.

1 Like
8

Does anyone suppose NBC will can him?

9

I think they’ll hunker down and hope it blows over before making a decision.

There’s a mighty slim chance of that.

10

I also said that a written report was done and should tell the story. If he lied he should resign, but if there is truth to some of his story than that changes the picture. There may well be no confirmation of his story in the report, but the report should come out either way.

11

It really isn’t, sad to say. If he’s full of crap, the military isn’t going to call a high-profile news anchor on it - they’ve spent forty years working to make sure the media turning on them the way they did in Vietnam never happens again. If he’s telling the truth, the military isn’t going to defend a journalist over the words of even one or two of their own - they’re not going to send that message to the currently-commissioned officers in the service, ‘we value the talking heads more than you’. It might be true, but they’re never going to tell that to officers. Enlisted personnel, maybe, but even Warrant Officers get more protection from the rest of the Officers’ Mess than that.

So, no: while the story is happily tearing itself apart on the air without actually involving them at all, there’s no reason whatsoever for the Pentagon to step in. The only thing that could do would be to move the spotlight from Williams to them, and they don’t want any part of having reporters asking them about anything that happened during the Iraq War. And there isn’t going to be any word from lower commands, because let’s face it, nobody in a position to know has any clue what kind of shitstorm they’d be opening themselves up to from the guys above them.

‘Shit rolls downhill’ might be a trusim in all walks of life, but I promise you, in the service it reaches heights I haven’t seen since I left NAS Norfolk. And that was just as a Navy brat.

12

Couldn’t a FOIA be done?

13

It’s hilarious how some people are trying to turn this into a partisan issue. It’s not, and neither party owns the moral high ground.

Hillary Clinton made similar false claims about being under sniper fire in Bosnia when she was First Lady in 1996. And Ronald Reagan repeatedly told a story about a heroic pilot in World War II, which was actually a scene from the movie “A Wing and a Prayer.”

14

Like Wile E. Coyote, how long can Brian hang in the air?

15

I actually feel empathy for Brian Williams. The fog of war is real and the fallibility of human memory is very real, especially when fear and adrenaline and chaotic events are involved. I was in a car accident with my parents and when it was over, the right side of my father’s leg was bleeding and the left side of the car was smashed. However, all of us perceived that the right side of the car had been hit and no one could figure out how my father had injured his leg. I actually think it could be a perfectly honest mistake. He could really have conflated the story in his mind And, yes, as a journalist he should double check his facts but most people don’t double check their own memories.

4 Likes
16

This is a big non-story to me. Combat, even when not being fired at, is a whirlwind of adrenaline, emotions and experiences and I don’t expect non-military personnel to recall everything perfectly. Apparently military personnel don’t recall everything perfectly either. I chalk this up to an individual (makes no difference that he’s a news/media figure) embellishing or mis-remembering a rather small detail of what actually happened many years ago. Since he is in the news/media, it’s up to his peers to decide if he should be held to a different standard but I don’t see it as a big enough “flub” to be fired over.

6 Likes
18

To them he’s a “liberal”. Remember these people think Obama is a Kenyan muslim Socialist". Anyone who is not a crazed foaming at the mouth Obama hater, or anti immigrant, or anti gay automatically becomes a liberal.

1 Like
19

Rasho-anchor-mon.

2 Likes
20

The thing is that it takes a lot of balls to go into these war zones and do reporting, it’s admirable work. Why the hell do you need to lie to make it sound better? Makes no sense.

1 Like
21

He’s full of crap. But so what? He was lying about a personal anecdote, years later. Did he get the story he was reporting on at the time wrong?

Now, if he had a history of getting major facts wrong in a real news piece, or say, being a stenographer to the PTB, or had an agenda to lie to support a RW agenda (ahem, FOX!), or say consistently fluffed up a governor and doesn’t report on any of the newsworthy scandals in order to maintain access to said governor (ahem, Wisconsin media) then that would be a problem. But those hacks are never fired, are they?

Why should the messenger be newsworthy? Why should we care about this guy? He’s an overpaid news reader now anyway.

1 Like