Kerry's Press Releases Come Straight From Network 'News'

Kerry's Press Releases Come Straight From Network 'News'

Susan Jones, CNSNews.com
Thursday, June 17, 2004

The John Kerry for President Campaign issues dozens of press releases in any given week; but one issued on June 16 simply quotes from the "big three" networks to bolster Kerry's campaign.

The June 16 press release offers "highlights" from "tonight's network news coverage."

Those highlights from CBS, ABC and NBC deal with findings by the 9/11 commission, which on Wednesday said it found no credible evidence of ties between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

The networks, in reporting on the 9/11 commission's findings, suggested that the Bush administration took America to war on false pretenses. Someone quoted by CBS - the Kerry press release is not clear on who's being quoted - accused Bush of "misleading" Americans, using a word that liberal advocacy groups such as MoveOn.org regularly use to bash Bush.

Conservative groups, including the Media Research Center, the parent organization of CNSNews.com, say the "liberal media" are advocates for liberal candidates and causes, and the Kerry campaign's June 16 press release may lend credence to that argument.

What follows are "highlights" from CBS, ABC, and NBC, as selected and excerpted by the Kerry campaign:

CBS:

"It is one of President Bush's last surviving justifications for war in Iraq and today took a devastating hit when the 9/11 Commission declared there was no collaborative relationship between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

'I think it's the clearest case of the administration misleading the American public to rally support for war and that misleading worked...'

... Those repeated associations left the majority of Americans believing Saddam was involved in 9/11. But the Commission today put the nail in that connection, or for that matter, any other al-Qaida acts of terror against America, declaring: 'there is no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida cooperated on attacks against the United States.' The report is yet another blow to the President's credibility as he struggles to find the exit door in Iraq, and opens him up to new criticism on the wisdom to taking on Saddam with Iraq's leadership still at large."

NBC:

"But the 9/11 commission contradicts the White House today, particularly on claims that Iraq and al-Qaida were linked before the war... The report said that the meeting and other contacts between Iraq and bin Laden do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship.

... Critics say the president has gone out of his way to blur the lines between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks... It's clear this report is a blow to the president's rationale for war."

ABC:

"One of the Bush administration's most controversial assertions that Bin Laden was linked to al-Qaida. Today the 911 commission said unequivocally, not so ...

... The 9/11 commission staff report was categorical... But the Bush Administration continues to link the two... The commission found, however, that the only relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida was an apparent agreement not to attack each other."

Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc."

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