The entire show was tape recorded except perhaps for the host, but, that has to be in question as well. Due to the taping every subject delivered as timely new was not.
Aaron Brown never had these issues while David Bohrman was producer. The show was 99.99 percent live and there were featured journalists for every subject with up to the minute information.
AC 360 has lost the integrity of good journalism and only reports was is a perspective that is biased to say the least.
Representative Murtha
On "The Today Show," Congressman Murtha told NBC's Matt Lauer he felt vindicated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TODAY SHOW") REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, that's exactly what I said a year ago. And I said, we couldn't win it militarily. And I said, they -- they have been mischaracterizing and misstating this war for the last two years.
Murtha was not only correct but when one realizes it was this time over the last year when the escalation of tensions that lead to the current violence took place, Representative Murtha could not be more correct. There has been increases in deaths across the board during this time and we are still in Iraq and not taking the advise of a veteran who obviously has a perspective that cannot be disputed. How many of his own constituents lost loved ones over the past year in the face of Representative Murtha's insistance the USA deploy out? What did the people of his constituency vote back into office? A man that knows what to do and not guesss. That is why he has been in his leadership in the House for so long. He is someone we can trust. Did Cooper bring that up during his news cast? No. Why? Becuase it would not only vindicate Representative Murtha but put Bush in the perspective he belonged as an incompetent Commander and Chief with no answers and only causing problem after problem.
The Iraqi Survey
I did appreciate the news about the Iraqi Survey taken after the November elections presented by Nic Robertson.
A new survey conducted by Iraqi pollsters shows, the daily violence is escalating Iraqi demands that U.S. troops leave. More than half the 2,000 Iraqis surveyed said they want all U.S. troops out now. And almost half the remainder want a withdrawal to begin immediately.
Did Cooper do a compare and contrast with the events of the day? No. Why? Because it completely conflicts with the Bush White House.
Shiite leader Hakim: We Have Asked for the American Forces to Stay in Iraq
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=41473
If the leadership of Iraq were in touch with the people of their country they would be advocating for withdrawal and sanctioning help from the region which would be viewed as benevolent to the Iraqi people. That isn't being done and as a consequence the USA is viewed as an occupier rather than an ally.
Abdul Aziz Hakim, the Shiite leader of the largest bloc in Iraq's parliament, met with US President George W. Bush and Secretary of US State Condoleezza Rice.
Hakim, after what he called a "very clear" meeting earlier with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, told reporters in Arabic that "we have asked for the American forces to stay in Iraq" to enable Iraqi security to deal with terrorists.
This is just exactly the problem and just more of the same. The Iraqi forces must show loyality to a sovereign Iraq. They haven't. They are all too afraid of the power another leadership could bring them that does not reflect their ethnicity. The Shi'ites and Kurds were the most victimized under the Saddam government, they were the ones that came forward to take control of a government they want to benevolent to them. Even the Shi'ite majority in this so called Unity Government has not protected them from violence that is currently escalating. The USA forces are not succeeding in protecting the innocent.
And I'll say it again, as a result the trained Iraqis that attend training by USA military return home to do the job they decided they were trained for and that is protecting their own families and not someone else's family. They are not going to show alligence to a power of central authority while they are being killed right in their own homes and market places.
Additionally, the central authority in Iraq has been draconian in their power as they have not provided alternatives or reacted to their crisis. There is no viable economy except local market places and even there people are attacked with car bombs.
The USA forces need to leave and for the National Guard troops sent home, for the regular military a deployment to Kurdistan for whatever number it takes to secure their borders until Baghdad settles down and the Kurds are able to handle their country themselves.
We are not servents of Mr. Hakem. If he is unable to find leadership without the security blanket of the USA then he has no sovereign authority except for what the USA military affords him. We are out of there. Iraqis need to decide their futures and we have no right or authority to do it for them. We are the problem and the Iraqi people see a respite away from the USA occupation as a reason to be peaceful among them. The killing has to stop. To continue as McCain and Bush want this to continue and even escalate the circumstances by killing all those that oppose Bush's agenda for Iraq is insane.
I believe the Unity Government is being viewed as an enemy to the people there and while those in the central government would like to blame it on terrorists, it is their own people in Civil War that is the issue.
To admit Iraq is in the throes of Civil War was give rise to the possibility of the decline of the Unity Government authority and the rise a dissolution of authority to three provincial authorities, each with it's own ruling body of ethnic preference.
The Kurds are already there and the Shi'ites are hoping to maintain their authority, but, in the streets they are more than likely looking to their Holy Men to find organization to lead without the benefit of a central government, there has been a shadow government there for years already. The Sunnis have just completely withdraw from the concept of a central authority and it is they that are attempting to secure Baghdad away from all others for the sparseness of resources in An Albar.
GORDON: Well, he -- he has sort of two categories, what he calls above the line, which are the options he thinks merit serious consideration, and below the line, that he doesn't like so much.And the below-the-line options include more troops. But it's clear that he's talking about consolidating bases, withdrawing forces, maybe moving them to different parts of Iraq. There's a lot of similarity, ironically, between some of his ideas and some of the ideas that, for example, Senator Levin, the Democrat from Michigan, have proposed.Michael Gordon needs to get out of his own way. He is backing the politics of Bush while reporting on a need for chance in ? strategy ? while people are dropping like flies. Take a stand Mr. Gordon, I would think that fence post you are sitting on is getting plenty uncomfortable. We have just passed an election in the USA where Iraq was a deciding factor. Either you agree with the majority of Americans who believe this war is not our issue and we need to leave, and you agree with Representative Murtha on the fact he was right the entire time, or you sit in defiance of any majority and believe Bush is not as incompetent as he obviously is. If that is the case then what the heck are you talking about? And while your at it, explain that to the families of the dead including Iraqis who only want to be safe and have their children safe with a future. What exactly is it about Bush that is going to give them that? What is a USA occupation going to do to provide that to them, because Mr. Gordon, Iraq is of absolutely no consequence to the national security of the USA. So, you tell me, Mr. Gordon, what exactly is a continued presence in that country going to do to stop the killing of innocent people? What, Mr. Gordon? I haven't heard 'word one' of that for over three long years !!!!!
The Spy Who Had a Cold
The entire story about Alexander Litvinenko is DESIGNED to inflame negative feelings regarding Russia. The time sequence Mattingly put together is backwards and is made to depict a paranoid country out to kill people. Do you honestly believe Russia was so out of touch with it's lose that the security structure Mr. Litvinenko was familiar with actually is still standing. As soon as a man like that left Russia for GREENER OBLIGARCH pastures the Russian Security forces changed their model. The information Alexander Litvinenko has was obsolete the day he defected. So, what exactly do you think a President of Russia has to be afraid of? A former spy? No way. Anderson Coooper displayed a one sided war mongering venture into information handled to portray a stereotype of Russia and Putin. He did not even explore any possibility and to realize this was all on video tape was to realize the information was as outdated as the information a dead spy had for his benefactors and friends. That is if you could call them friends. Anderson Cooper can never be accused of offering points of view that might be controversial.
Matthew Chance had half a chance to bring justice to the one sidedness but failed to do so:For years, criminals in Russia have used mafia-style contract hits to settle scores. But recently, there's been an epidemic. Officials say more than 5,000 every year. Some of the victims, high profile establishment figures like Andrei Kozlov, the deputy chairman of Russia's central bank, shot after a football match earlier this year.
In the Russian Far East, the popular mayoral candidate was also gunned down during an election runoff. Police say the assassin used an assault rifle with a silencer.
As for Anna Politkovskaya, she was a determined investigative reporter, especially critical of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. She often traveled to the rebellious Russian Public of Chechnya to document the excesses of Russian forces there.
In London, Alexander Litvinenko was convinced his friend's murder was officially sanctioned. Before he was poisoned, he (UNINTELLIGIBLE) evidence implicating the Kremlin in her death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I can directly answer you, it is Mr. Putin, the president of the Russian federation, who has killed her.
CHANCE: The Kremlin denies involvement in either the shooting or the poisoning. But the journalist, like the former secret agent, had a long history of antagonizing Moscow, and their deaths deliver a chilling message to others who might dare criticize.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
Go chance an Oligarch rather than a Russian President and you might even find an exclusive, better yet you might find the killer and a reward. Now, that would be progress. I guess you can't get credentials in Russia. Well, I doubt Cooper could either as a former CIA agent, so the rumor goes.
enough
