Cronkite
Warns Iraq Conflict Will Cause WWIII
By Christopher Ferrell, cferrell@ theeagle.com
Walter Cronkite, the veteran newsman who covered almost every major
world event that took place during his six-decade career, on Sunday
warned that if the United States takes action against Iraq without support
from the United Nations it could set the stage for World War III.
“The threat from the White House is to go in anyway,” Cronkite said.
“Our only ally would probably be Great Britain. That is not good enough.
I see the possibility if we do that of really setting forth World War
III.”
Cronkite spoke at Texas A&M University’s Rudder Auditorium on Sunday
afternoon as part of the Wiley Lecture Series. Donnis Baggett, editor
and publisher of The Bryan-College Station Eagle, interviewed Cronkite,
asking him about his views on issues including America’s war on terrorism,
the U.S. economy and the perception of the media’s liberal bias.
Cronkite said he believes the best way to handle the situation with
Iraq would be through a two-stage resolution adopted by the United Nations.
It should first call for weapons inspections and then an invasion if
inspectors are not allowed or they meet interference. Such a strategy
could help the United States gain other allies, especially Russia and
France, he said.
“The legitimacy of our actions would be endorsed through the United
Nations,” Cronkite said.
If the United States goes in without worldwide support, however, other
countries in the region such as Iran and Pakistan could retaliate against
the U.S., Cronkite said. He said the threat of nuclear exchanges between
India and Pakistan could be increased if a conflict arises.
Cronkite, who began anchoring the CBS Evening News in 1962, said the
country is at a very critical point in its history. The only other decade
that compares, he said, is the 1960s, which saw the beginning of the
Vietnam War, the civil rights movement come to the forefront and the
assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and civil rights leaders
Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers.
“That was a tough 10 years,” he said. “But this period, with the threat
of war with Iraq on tap, economic difficulties and terrorism are something
we must be terribly concerned about.”
Cronkite said he fears Americans are learning less and less about what
their government is doing, and worse, they do not seem to care.
He cited recent presidential elections that have seen less than half
of registered voters go to the polls. The result has been leaders who
are chosen by about a quarter of the electorate.
“That means we don’t have a democracy,” he said. “We’ve got an oligarchy
here, not a democracy. Our democracy is in some danger if we don’t concentrate
on educating the populace.”
Educating Americans should rest with the media, he said. But more often
than not, nightly newscasts and the networks’ magazine-style shows focus
more on entertainment than hard news. Cronkite said this approach is
the result of directives from the companies that own the networks to
make things more “interesting.”
He said the ability to get the news, especially during times of war,
also is becoming more difficult.
Since the Vietnam War, Cronkite said, the media has not been allowed
to take its cameras, pencils and notepads into the field with the soldiers
to give an accurate account of what is happening.
During World War II, reporters were in fox holes, and during the Vietnam
War they were on the battlefields.
In many cases during WWII, the reports would have to go through intelligence
officers all the way up the ladder to London, where top military censors
decided if the information could be released. If security reasons prevented
its release, the news was held until the threat passed. But information
was not kept from the American public.
Cronkite said Americans may have thought they got the full story during
Operation Desert Storm, but the media was denied much of the type of
access it had been granted in the past.
“[In past conflicts], you wrote it to be the history,” he said. “We
have no history now of the Persian Gulf War. We have only what the military
reporters wrote and that’s what their bosses told them. That’s not good
enough.”
Cronkite admitted that in some cases, such as the recent congressional
report that outlined the country’s homeland security weaknesses, he
wonders whether or not reporting all the facts is in the country’s best
interest.
“It seems to me that as citizens, we should get this info so we can
shout to Washington, ‘Let’s get this game going,’” he said. “But at
the same time, there’s a terrorist cell sitting there saying, ‘That’s
how we do it.’”
But for a country’s citizens to be truly free and the government to
be held accountable, he said people must have a free press that gathers
all the facts.
He said an example of the alternative would be a situation like what
he witnessed after WWII, after the Nazi concentration camps were freed.
The people who lived in nearby towns cried at the sights of the persecuted
Jews and told reporters they had no idea of what was going on behind
the walls of the camps.
Many were probably telling the truth, he said, but that did not make
them any less responsible.
“They applauded as Hitler closed down the independent newspaper and
television stations and only gave them his propaganda,” Cronkite said.
“When they did not rise up and say, ‘Give us a free press,’ they became
just as guilty.”
Source: Bryan/College
Station Eagle
