Tom Fitzpatrick notes a New York Times story by CNN’s former Baghdad bureau chief who admits that he remained silent about the brutalities of the Saddam regime for fear that CNN staff and their families would face retaliation. What he should have done is arrange for them to leave the country and then report the truth. Or at least make sure that his reporting was as hard-hitting as it could be without jeopardizing lives. Instead, an organization who professional ethics demand the reporting of the whole truth did not.
Sure, Eason was in a difficult position, but failing to find a remedy that would salvage his position there he did nothing. As Tom says had the world been more fully confronted with the truth of Saddam’s brutality on a regular basis, we might have found it easier to rally the world to the cause of Saddam’s disarmament a long time ago.
