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FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and activism
ACTION ALERT:
USA Today Repeats Myths on Iraq Inspectors
August 12, 2002
An August 8 USA Today article that described how Saddam Hussein is
"complicating U.S. plans to topple his regime" repeated a common myth
about the history of U.S./Iraq relations. Reporter John Diamond wrote that
"Iraq expelled U.N. weapons inspectors four years ago and accused them of
being spies."
But Iraq did not "expel" the UNSCOM weapons inspectors; in fact, they were
withdrawn by Richard Butler, the head of the inspections team. The
Washington Post, like numerous other media outlets, reported it accurately
at the time (12/17/98): "Butler ordered his inspectors to evacuate
Baghdad, in anticipation of a military attack, on Tuesday night."
USA Today wouldn't have to consult the archives of other media outlets to
find out what happened: A timeline that appeared in the paper on December
17, 1998 included this entry for December 16: "U.N. weapons inspectors
withdraw from Baghdad one day after reporting Iraq was still not
cooperating." USA Today also reported (12/17/98) that "Russian Ambassador
Sergei Lavrov criticized Butler for evacuating inspectors from Iraq
Wednesday morning without seeking permission from the Security Council."
As for Iraq accusing weapons inspectors of being spies, Diamond might have
mentioned that this accusation has proven to be correct. The Washington
Post reported in 1999 (1/8/99) that "United Nations arms inspectors helped
collect eavesdropping intelligence used in American efforts to undermine
the Iraqi regime."
USA Today was clearly aware of the spy story, since the paper wrote an
editorial excusing it. Headlined "Spying Flap Merely a Sideshow" (1/8/99),
the paper argued that "spying on Saddam Hussein is nothing new and nothing
needing an apology. But the Clinton administration suddenly is scrambling
to explain why it did just that." The paper added that the information
gathered "no doubt found uses other than just weapons detection. That may
not be playing by the books, but it's understandable and probably
inevitable."
ACTION: Contact USA Today and ask that the paper correct the errors in its
August 8 report on Iraq, "Saddam Already Battling Invasion."
CONTACT:
USA Today
Elisa Tinsley, World Editor
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: 1-800-872-0001
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