Posted on 19-1-2003
Warheads
And War Heads
My name is William Rivers Pitt. I am the author of the book
'War on Iraq,'
which has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, and
has cracked
the top ten bestseller lists of the Washington Post, L.A. Times,
San
Francisco Chronicle and others. I am also a writer for the publication
truthout.org.
I apologize for flouting my resume at you, but I wanted to make
sure that
you do not dismiss this email as coming from someone not very
well versed
in this Iraq situation. A correspondent named (name deleted)
at CNN gave me
your address, so that I might pass a note through you to Mr.
Aaron Brown. I
am hoping he is prepared to hear what I am saying.
First things first: The warheads.
Let's be clear. These were not 'chemical warheads.' In the Iraqi
arsenal, a
warhead is a warhead - an empty ordnance space strapped to a
missile. What
matters is the payload, be it explosive or chemical or nuclear.
The item
placed in the warhead denotes the designation. These warheads
were
stone-cold empty, so by definition they are not 'chemical warheads.'
They
are, in fact, nothing, because they were loaded with no payload.
Furthermore, the word 'warhead' is in itself misleading, as
these were
artillery munitions.
Second. Iraq is allowed by UN resolutions to have a variety
of weapons,
including the Al Samoud missile. We did not want to pull Iraq's
fangs
completely after the Gulf War, considering the neighborhood
they live in.
We allowed them to keep missiles that fly only a certain distance
(150km
most often). Many people will not know this, and will think
the presence of
these munitions will represent a breach of the UN resolution.
This is not
the case.
Third. Scott Ritter informed me today that these munitions were
part of
Iraq's declaration last December. I await further confirmation
of this, and
so should the journalism world.
Fourth. This is absolutely a vindication of the inspections
regime. They
found the stuff, and it will be destroyed, an no American soldiers
or Iraqi
civilians died in the process. Inspections work.
Fifth. Recall how the UNSCOM inspections were undermined by
meddling from
the American intelligence community. Understand that this warhead
story did
not come from Blix, or through the normal channels, but through
a Japanese
(read: close ally) inspector whop contacted the news media and
let rip
before the facts were in hand. Why?
Finally, I want to address a comment you made earlier this week.
You said
on your show that it was unconscionable that viewers were writing
in
claiming that CNN wants war because war is good for the media
business. I
understand that this idea offends the core of your professionalism,
but I
wonder if you have been watching CNN today.
Your station has referred, over and over again, to these discovered
warheads as 'chemical warheads.' The debate has not been centered
on what
the facts are behind these items - when they were made, whether
they were
loaded with anything, how long they have been there, whether
they were
declared - and instead has focused on whether the White House
can use this
as a pretext for war. Calling these things 'chemical warheads'
is a gross
exaggeration, which I have heard on CNN no less than seven times
during the
period I have been writing this message. Mull that.
Please, take the data I have given you and air it, for the sake
of a
reasoned and complete debate. I remind you that CNN's viewership
increased
by 500% after 9/11 and that your network made its bones on the
first Gulf
War. I beg you to get this data out to the American people,
who desperately
need facts and not overheated innuendo.
With great appreciation,
William Rivers Pitt
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