Ted Koppel in 'NYT': Iraq for U.S. Is 'About the Oil'

[Newsjock]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002074604

In a surprisingly strong Op Ed on Friday, Ted Koppel, the former "NIghtline" host who is now an occasional columnist for The New York Times, argues that when it comes right down to it, the U.S. adventure in Iraq is, as some charge, "about the oil."

He likened the situation to H.L. Mencken's statement that when someone says something is "not about the money" it is indeed "about the money." The same is true in this case relating to oil.

... Noting arguments for many years about the importance of oil to our economy, Koppel observes, "If those considerations did not enter into the Bush administration's calculations when the president ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it would have been the first time in more than 50 years that the uninterrupted flow of Persian Gulf oil was not a central element of American foreign policy. "

[Old and In the Way]

1. Ted....where were you before the war?

Could have used your opinion and that of the MSM to expose the true agenda of the Big Oil administration....we'd have 2300 Americans and 100,000 Iraqi's still alive today.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

2. hey better late than never-maybe this is in time for IRAN Invasion-

These guys are going to invade Iran no matter what-
-but the more journalists that stand up this time the better-
More and more people in this country will oppose unethical invasions when journalists like Ted speak out--

He really had his balls in a vice before the Iraq invasion-
--free pass for the Corporate Media at the time ya know--911 and all--
but them days is over..

[Born Free]

5. what if...

they planned it this way, knowing the first time would be forgiven and the second invasion there would be evidence. Of course they didn't expect or want the Muslims groups to become united and now they are doing everything they can to keep the various Muslim groups fighting each other to keep them in a weakened state - divide and conquer! Likewise they will have a much more difficult time as many people throughout the world are paying closer attention this time around. How did he say it, "fool me once , shame on you, ah, ah, shame on, well you know, you can't fool me the second time"

[wtmusic]

3. no...kidding.

IIRC Ted was beating the war drums right along with the rest, and as a journalist he could have helped shape policy. He didn't, and there's blood on his hands.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Beating a drum from atop a tank.

[arewenotdemo]

18. Riding with the cavalry made them all think they were MEN.

And not the embedded mediawhores that they actually were.

[screembloodymurder]

11. Rip Van Winkle just woke up.

I guess he thinks this is news.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. True. He's been keeping a very low profile.

[yurbud]

16. no shit! Imagine if he had been doing Greg Palast stories before the war

[LynnTheDem]

4. Gee Ted, woke up at last huh.

Was it all the oceans of blood?

[Nomen Tuum]

6. Too little and too late, Ted!

Now take your Alfred E Newman act and get lost...

[Jacobin]

7. Gee, ya think?

[0007]

8. I wonder if Amy Goodman would hire Ted?

[yurbud]

20. "This is a great story, Ted, or it would have been THREE YEARS AGO!"

He is a worthless sack of shit and would bring nothing to the table but celebrity.

[megatherium]

9. Just read his piece. Good for him. But I remember the book

Unreliable Sources, about the news media (this was published about 1990), and the authors slag Koppel for the bias in his choice of guests on Nightline. He always had Kissinger on to talk about China, and never told his viewers that Kissinger had a serious conflict of interest about what he was commenting on (he was involved in lobbying for increased trade with China). Koppel also would have 'debates' about arms control with the Soviet Union, but these debates were mainly between conservative Democrats and Republicans. True disarmanent advocates would never get on the air -- then and I presume now, many public figures will tell producers of shows such as Nightline that they will not appear on the air if certain people (their critics) are also going to appear. After reading that book, I have never trusted the media. It's controlled by the corporations. It's like the HMO physician who not only cannot prescribe certain things for his patient, but is not allowed to even tell his patient what possible treatments he's not allowed to prescribe.

[rodeodance]

10. it is indeed strange how few of the media utter that word when talking of

Irag.

[SaintLouisBlues]

14. Ted needs oil so he can show off his fancy cars to the Washington elite

From the Daily Howler:

TED AND COLIN, SITTIN’ IN A TREE: Ted Koppel had purchased his latest fast car. And he wanted to show this new “baby” off. And then he had it! He knew what he’d do! He’d show it off to one of the world’s most powerful men—one of the men he allegedly “covers.” Indeed, we’ll let Colin Powell take the story from there. Powell was speaking at a roast Thursday night. His remarks were transcribed and presented in Saturday’s Post. Every American should read them and ponder their meaning:

POWELL (10/14/04): Every couple of years, Ted will come by my house on the spur of the moment and we'll sit in the back yard and have a cup of coffee. And he's usually driving one of his hot cars. He always has a fast car of some kind. And so about, oh, four or five years ago, he came by the house and he had this real muscle car, and after we had a cup of coffee and chatted for a while, he says, “You've got to take it out and drive it, Colin. You've just got to drive this thing. I want you to feel that power.”

I said, “Okay, Ted. You want to go with me?”

“No, you go. I'll just wait right here in front of the house.”

And so I go out and up 123 in McLean. I will not tell anyone how fast I was going by the time I hit the CIA turnoff, but it didn't take me long to get there. And I came back around, pulled up in front of my driveway, and felt something go boom. And I got out of the car and the right rear tire was flat. There must have been about two inches of air left in it.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh101904.shtml

[gratuitous]

15. Folks who said that when it mattered were dismissed as naive

I wonder if media outlets such as the oldest newspaper in the west will perform the same favor for Mr. Koppel, now that he's gotten all naive and says that this war is about the oil?

But thanks a lot, Mr. Koppel. Now that you don't have the big media megaphone, now that you're reduced to an irrelevancy, and now that you don't have to curry favor with the powers that be so that you'll get the good cocktail party invitations, you finally feel free to tell a little truth.

You fucking quisling.

[yurbud]

17. that sums it up pretty well-now that his paycheck isn't at risk, he gets

brave.

[Critters2]

19. In Ted's Defense

I learned about PNAC from a Nightline show. Or, more accurately, I learned about PNAC from a parishioner who was enflamed about it after seeing Koppel talk about it.

Who else is talking about PNAC?