# Russert's role in the lead up to the war **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 17, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209 "2008-06-17T14:38:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/1 "2008-06-17T14:38:27Z")
I was never into MtP, I only caught it a few times, so I have no opinion of Russert as a journalist. My impression from the last few years is that he asked tough questions with little follow up, played devil’s advocate, and was manipulated by Cheney. Now that he has suddenly died, everyone seems to think that he was the best since Konkrite. [Jonathan Schwarz](http://thismodernworld.com/4354) isn’t so sure. Apparently TR willfully ignored the facts about Saddam and weapons inspectors. Was Russert acting as a responsible journalist before the war? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/2 "2008-06-17T14:59:23Z")
What facts are those? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/3 "2008-06-17T15:00:46Z")
Konkrite? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/4 "2008-06-17T15:06:52Z")
Chris Matthews said that Russert supported the invasion because he bought into the “mushroom cloud” bullshit. Matthews said he had asked Russert privately how he could justify supporting the invaion and Russert said, “The nuclear thing. If they’ve got a nuke, we can’t walk away from that.” ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/5 "2008-06-17T15:07:51Z")
Shoot, I knew that looked wrong. But to be fair, he was retired before I started watching the news. Mr. Moto- that’s the point of linking, isn’t it? So that one doesn’t need to repeat the whole thing. But, to summarize, TR said that Saddam kicked out the inspectors in 1998, when in fact, they were withdrawn by the UN. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/6 "2008-06-17T15:08:07Z")
Who is Jonathan Schwartz and why should we believe him? An honest question-- I’ve never heard of the guy and know nothing about him. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/7 "2008-06-17T15:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] What facts are those? [/QUOTE] Read the link. Russert repeatedly kept reporting that saddam Huseen had thrown out the weapons inspectors, even though they left at the behest of the US, not Saddam Hussein. Russert kept repeating the lie even after he had been corrected on it several times. He did support the invasion and he did suck Bush-Cheney cock during the runup. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/8 "2008-06-17T15:12:14Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Who is Jonathan Schwartz and why should we believe him? An honest question-- I’ve never heard of the guy and know nothing about him. [/QUOTE] Why should you believe him about what? What Russert said on the air is independently verifiable. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/9 "2008-06-17T15:15:01Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Why should you believe him about what? What Russert said on the air is independently verifiable. [/QUOTE] Well, then independently verify it. I clicked on the guy’s web site and it looks more like a cartoon than anything else. The only thing it says it that Russert erred about when the inspectors were kicked out. There needs to be more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/10 "2008-06-17T15:15:47Z")
John- [Some info on JS](http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/000370.html). I’m a fan of This Modern World, and he co-blogs there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/11 "2008-06-17T15:16:51Z")
The list of journalists who acted responsibly in the pre-war period would be pretty short. If the worst you can say about Russert is that he was wrong about the inspector issue three times, that’s not too bad. Especially since the link (which details absolutely nothing else about his coverage of that period), and to a lesser degree the thread title, make it sound like Russert was responsible for the war. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/12 "2008-06-17T15:19:33Z")
From the wikipedia article on [the subject:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_disarmament_crisis_timeline_1997-2000) > [@](#): > > October 31, 1998 > > ``` > * Iraq ends all forms of cooperation with the UNSCOM teams and expels inspectors from the country. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/13 "2008-06-17T15:22:45Z")
OK, here’s the whole sequence: > [@](#): > > October 31, 1998 > > ``` > * Iraq ends all forms of cooperation with the UNSCOM teams and expels inspectors from the country. > * U.S. President Clinton signed into law HR 4655, the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. > > ``` > > November 13-14, 1998 > > ``` > * US President Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq. Clinton then calls it off at the last minute when Iraq promises once again to unconditionally cooperate with UNSCOM > > ``` > > November 18, 1998 > > ``` > * UNSCOM inspectors return to Iraq. > > ``` > > November 23-26, 1998 > > ``` > * According to UNSCOM, Iraq ends cooperation with UNSCOM inspectors, alternately intimidating and withholding information from them. > > ``` > > November 30, 1998 > > ``` > * Butler meets with US National Security Advisor Sandy Berger to coordinate timelines for a possible military strike against Iraq > > ``` > > December 11, 1998 > > ``` > * Iraq announces that weapons inspections will no longer take place on Friday, the Muslim day of rest. Iraq also refuses to provide test data from the production of missiles and engines. > > ``` > > December 13, 1998 > > ``` > * US President Clinton secretly approves an attack on Iraq. > > ``` > > December 15, 1998 > > ``` > * Richard Butler reports to the UN Security Council that Iraq is still blocking inspections. > > ``` > > December 16-19, 1998 > > ``` > * UNSCOM withdraws all weapons inspectors from Iraq. > * Saddam Hussein's failure to provide unfettered access to UN arms inspectors led Washington and London to hit 100 Iraqi targets in four days of bombing as part of Operation Desert Fox. The US government urged UNSCOM executive chairman Richard Butler to withdraw, and "[a] few hours before the attack began, 125 UN personnel were hurriedly evacuated from Baghdad to Bahrain, including inspectors from the UN Special Commission on Iraq and the International Atomic Energy Agency." > > ``` > > December 19, 1998 > > ``` > * Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan announces that Iraq will no longer cooperate and declares that UNSCOM's "mission is over." > > ``` Looks like SH kicked them out to me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/14 "2008-06-17T15:27:36Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Well, then independently verify it. I clicked on the guy’s web site and it looks more like a cartoon than anything else. The only thing it says it that Russert erred about when the inspectors were kicked out. There needs to be more than that. [/QUOTE] I can independently verify it. I saw the show with Al Gore where Russert said that and I saw follow up shws where he repeated it. Maybe the first time was an error, but the repeats were lies. What is your point with this? Do you think that Russert never really said this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/15 "2008-06-17T15:28:49Z")
It was pretty complicated, but [the Post](http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1750) re-wrote history. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/16 "2008-06-17T15:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] OK, here’s the whole sequence: Looks like SH kicked them out to me. [/QUOTE] Read your own cites, dude. > [@](#): > > - UNSCOM withdraws all weapons inspectors from Iraq. > - Saddam Hussein’s failure to provide unfettered access to UN arms inspectors led Washington and London to hit 100 Iraqi targets in four days of bombing as part of Operation Desert Fox. The US government urged UNSCOM executive chairman Richard Butler to withdraw, and “[a] few hours before the attack began, 125 UN personnel were hurriedly evacuated from Baghdad to Bahrain, including inspectors from the UN Special Commission on Iraq and the International Atomic Energy Agency.” Saddam didn’t kick anybody out, UNSCOM withdrew at the request of the US Government. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/17 "2008-06-17T15:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] I was never into MtP, I only caught it a few times, so I have no opinion of Russert as a journalist. My impression from the last few years is that he asked tough questions with little follow up, played devil’s advocate, and was manipulated by Cheney. Now that he has suddenly died, everyone seems to think that he was the best since Konkrite. [Jonathan Schwarz](http://thismodernworld.com/4354) isn’t so sure. Apparently TR willfully ignored the facts about Saddam and weapons inspectors. Was Russert acting as a responsible journalist before the war? [/QUOTE] Holy shit. Honestly, if that’s ALL the evidence there is against Russert, it’s the dumbest criticism in the history of Jonathan Schwartz, which is saying a lot. He asked a few people a few questions about what they were doing about Iraq - YEARS before the war, in fact some time before Bush was elected. On three occasions his question might have been inaccurate, depending on who you believe and how you interpret who was at fault for the UN inspections ending. That’s it? That’s all there is? Fuck, let’s dig up Russert and hang him. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/18 "2008-06-17T15:38:39Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Read your own cites, dude. Saddam didn’t kick anybody out, UNSCOM withdrew at the request of the US Government. [/QUOTE] No. Saddam kicked them out, then let them back in, then they pulled out and he refused to let them back in. Read the whole time frame. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/19 "2008-06-17T15:45:23Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Saddam didn’t kick anybody out, UNSCOM withdrew at the request of the US Government. [/QUOTE] Well, but it also says: October 31, 1998 - Iraq ends all forms of cooperation with the UNSCOM teams and expels inspectors from the country. So, it looks like the UNSCOM teams left Iraq twice…once, on October 31, 1998, when Sadaam kicked them out, and the second, December, 1998, when they withdrew on the advice of the US, after Sadaam stopped cooperating with them again. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209/20 "2008-06-17T15:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No. Saddam kicked them out, then let them back in, then they pulled out and he refused to let them back in. Read the whole time frame. [/QUOTE] No, UNSCOM pulled them out. Saddam didn’t kick out anybody. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russerts-role-in-the-lead-up-to-the-war/453209.md?page=2)