Cronkite Wants U.S. Forces Out of Iraq Now
By DAVID BAUDER, AP



PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 15) - Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

"It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters.

Now 89, the television journalist once known as "the most trusted man in America" has been off the "CBS Evening News" for nearly a quarter-century. He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them.

Cronkite said one of his proudest moments came at the end of a 1968 documentary he made following a visit to Vietnam during the Tet offensive. Urged by his boss to briefly set aside his objectivity to give his view of the situation, Cronkite said the war was unwinnable and that the U.S. should exit.

Then-President Lyndon Johnson reportedly told a White House aide after that, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

The best time to have made a similar statement about Iraq came after Hurricane Katrina, he said.

"We had an opportunity to say to the world and Iraqis after the hurricane disaster that Mother Nature has not treated us well and we find ourselves missing the amount of money it takes to help these poor people out of their homeless situation and rebuild some of our most important cities in the United States," he said. "Therefore, we are going to have to bring our troops home."

Iraqis should have been told that "our hearts are with you" and that the United States would do all it could to rebuild their country, he said.

"I think we could have been able to retire with honor," he said. "In fact, I think we can retire with honor anyway."

Cronkite has spoken out against the Iraq war in the past, saying in 2004 that Americans weren't any safer because of the invasion.

Cronkite, who is hard of hearing and walks haltingly, jokingly said that "I'm standing by if they want me" to anchor the "CBS Evening News." CBS is still searching for a permanent successor to Dan Rather, who replaced Cronkite in March 1981.

"Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every day since," he said. "It's too good a job for me to have given it up the way that I did."

Uncle Walter:  Communist.

Cronkite is the Moron who said that the Vietnam War was unwinnable right as we were wiping out the NVA during the Tet Offensive.

Later on during the B-52 Bombing Campaign of Hanoi and the Mining of Haiphong Harbor, Documents from North Vietnam later on showed that North Vietnam was approximating 2 weeks away from surrendering their effort.

What did our Media Do?

Cronkite, you clueless dinosaur.  Even your heirs who actually anchor the news today have nowhere near the influence and authority you had in your day. You're even more irrelevant being a retired and admitted liberal hack.  Who fucking cares what you think?

Quoted: Uncle Walter:  Communist.

That about nails it.

Alzhiemer's allows its victims to live in their own realities.

Can you say "senile"? Sure you can!

from:www.aim.org/publications/aim_report/1972/11.html

Conclusion

It is obvious in retrospect that most of the major media surveyed by AIM misled their readers and viewers about the consequences of the President's decision to mine the North Vietnamese harbors. The mining has been effective; Vietnamization has not been abandoned; there was no military or diplomatic confrontation with the Soviet Union or Communist China; the peace talks in Paris did not blow up; and the polls showed continuing strong support for the President's Vietnam policies.

Why did important media like The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, CBS and NBC get it all wrong? The answer seems obvious. Those who set the tone in these media organs were evidently personally opposed to the President's action, and they allowed their own emotional reaction to color the way in which they reported and edited the story. They failed to honor the journalistic obligation to report the news fairly and objectively. They slipped into the practice of advocacy journalism. In doing so, they misinformed and misled those who depended on them for the news.

Quoted: Cronkite, you clueless dinosaur.  Even your heirs who actually anchor the news today have nowhere near the influence and authority you had in your day. You're even more irrelevant being a retired and admitted liberal hack.  Who fucking cares what you think?

What he said.

What makes him a fucking expert?

He was wrong about Vietnam, but at least he went over there first. When was the last time he went to Iraq?

Quoted: Can you say "senile"? Sure you can!

No that don’t cover it…

A leopard don’t change its spots, Cronkite is just doing what he did in 68. Same shit different day.

He can go to hell…

There's no fool like an old fool.

WOW! 89 years old and still smoking pot!  Most people stop before they turn 30 because they worry about brain damage. We can see Walter never had that problem.

He is a decaying old windbag libtard who doesn't realize that his 15min of fame were over a quarter century ago.

I didn't care what he had to say then, I care even less now. I'll be happy to drink a beer to celebrate his passing when it happens. Fuck him....

I always felt he was one of the most dishonest men in America, and the trouble with a lot of things was too many dullards watched and BELIEVED the creep.