NEXT on Nightline: Ted Koppel on the missing explosives...HE WAS THERE

[Roland99]

Those were his words right before cutting to commercial.


TUNE IN

[jadedcherub]

1. No cable here, keep me posted would ya? (n/t)

[salvorhardin]

2. Damn.

This is one of those nights I miss having television. First Donahue beats up Sean Hannity, then Zogby announces the election for Kerry and now this.

[liberalmuse]

11. Yeah, I know.

I feel like a dog begging for a crumb tonight. 'The Daily Show', Donahue (haven't heard from him in months!), the explosive explosive story, etc., etc., and all we're getting is teeny weeny morsels! When you're a TV viewer, you become a part of this mass mind meld. You only have to say a couple of key words to each other, and everyone knows what everyone else is talking about. I'm outta the loop. :(

[Roland99]

3. On now

April 2, 2003.

"we setup camp in anticipation of taking the airport"

"I interviewed Capt. Gerald Robbins"

(rocket-fuel facility...wastewater treatment facility)

[Roland99]

4. more...

Capt. still talking about the "rocket fuel"


walls of the compound were just a background. 3rd infantry was about to push final assault on Baghdad.

Not enough forces were available to secure the facility

Iraqis were supposedly convinced the U.S. was going to bomb the place so they removed the explosives.



And that's the end of the broadcast.

[cynatnite]

8. I thought Koppel said 'he believed the iraqis removed them'

That's an assumption on that guy's part. Doesn't mean they did in fact remove it.

The video out of Minneapolis is actual proof, IMO.

Edited for spelling

[zbird]

13. Not enough manpower to do a thorough search...

but US military was convinced the explosives were already gone.

Yep, total bullshit. They didn't see anything... hell, they didn't even really look!... But there wasn't anything there.

Thanks Ted, nice spin.

[TrustingDog]

30. was Ted Copulating with us again?

[MidwestTransplant]

5. We better email him. That's total BS

[Roland99]

6. I believe he was referring to the words of the Capt.

[MidwestTransplant]

10. I didn't realize. In any case he should have reported the new news

"Now we know....."

[txindy]

28. Yeah, the same officer who thought there was rocket fuel there

to power the WMDs. :eyes: And that worked out so well, didn't it, Mr. Koppel? Ol' Ted is kicking himself now about his lack of interest in the huge site protected by mile-long walls. Think it might have been important, Ted? You know, with the MILE-LONG WALLs!! :eyes:

Ted Koppel can be a massive idiot. He dissected John O'Neill exceptionally well, but he can still be incredibly stupid.

[huckleberry]

7. he's reporting hearsay - what his officer friend "thought"

[incapsulated]

12. WTF?

His own network showed the fucking video!

:mad:

[Pirate Smile]

21. Really! What time does he tape his damn show. Most of the shows

tonight are behind the curve on this story.

[Robbien]

15. Everything was non-conclusive but Ted did not report

it as non-conclusive. What a crock.

[Mr_Spock]

16. Yeah, said they didn't have time to inspect - merely heresay - means nothi

nothing. Not much to say that's why it wasn't reported as too big a deal beforehand.

[incapsulated]

18. That's not the point

His own network showed video of the shit hours earlier and he is spinning the story as if it's still based on hersay and is "up in the air"!

It is NOT!

[Roland99]

19. Is Nightline shown Live?

[incapsulated]

23. No, but...

This story broke hours ago. I've seen Nightline cover stuff up to the minute, almost.

No excuse for that.

[Mr_Spock]

26. Problem is, you are using supposition too - we just don't know the time-

line here. He was anxious to report what he knew - maybe he doesn't care if it already is meaningless. Remember, he DIDN'T have ANY positive proof of ANYTHING. Just the CO's supposition - it's totally MEANINGLESS!!

[Mr_Spock]

27. Also, he was there!! He wanted to report his story no matter what!

He was there!!!!! C'mon, wouldn't you just want to report what you saw when YOU were in the hot-spot!!! He felt obligated as a reporter to tell what he knew - and I AGREE with him, he HAD to play it EXACTLY as he did. Those guys he was with would screw him if he didn't report what they told him!

[Mr_Spock]

22. Must be recorded - Dobbs was still reporting Russian angle on repeat

What are ya gonna do, this story is in warp speed - nobody can keep up.

[incapsulated]

25. Yeah, but Dobbs was on earlier

His show comes on at 6:00 and is taped. Nightline is waaay after the Nightly News.

[jefferson_dem]

9. Officer "thought" the explosives were all gone but not enough troops to

search and secure.

[PATRICK]

14. Not to be negative

But I just listened)(head banging on car dashboard) to an NPR interview with Ted on fresh Air. So damned apologetic for doing his job. The Vietnamese village interview was an idea from a free lancer who opened the doors.

The stories have to fall into these dunces' laps, stories that cry out for their own special researching. Then the analysis and conclusions are equally "duh".

We need better news outlets regardless of how exciting this breaking news(two years old) is.

[Roland99]

17. Here's a link to the Real Media stream of Koppel on Today's Fresh Air

http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=FA&showDate=28-oct-2004&segNum=1&mediaPref=RM

Koppel talks about politics, the media and covering the 2004 presidential election. Koppel is the author of the book Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television.

[seventhson]

20. Aaron Brown blew the Bush lies right out of the water tonight w/Kay

my mouth was hanging open.

Aaron was on the money when he basically said it was a slam dunk against Bush.

[PATRICK]

29. Thanks, I missed most of it.

These people need to listen to themselves talk while looking in the mirror.

[troublemaker]

24. Additional grist for the mill:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al_qa_qaa-imagery4.htm