Action Alert:
USA Today Repeats Myths on Iraq Inspectors
August 12, 2002
An August 8 USA Today article that described how Saddam Hussein is "complicating U.S. plans to topple his regime"
repeated a common myth about the history of U.S./Iraq relations. Reporter John Diamond wrote that "Iraq expelled U.N.
weapons inspectors four years ago and accused them of being spies."
But Iraq did not "expel" the UNSCOM weapons inspectors; in fact, they were withdrawn by Richard Butler, the head of the
inspections team. The Washington Post, like numerous other media outlets, reported it accurately at the time (12/17/98):
"Butler ordered his inspectors to evacuate Baghdad, in anticipation of a military attack, on Tuesday night."
USA Today wouldn't have to consult the archives of other media outlets to find out what happened: A timeline that
appeared in the paper on December 17, 1998 included this entry for December 16: "U.N. weapons inspectors withdraw from
Baghdad one day after reporting Iraq was still not cooperating." USA Today also reported (12/17/98) that "Russian
Ambassador Sergei Lavrov criticized Butler for evacuating inspectors from Iraq Wednesday morning without seeking
permission from the Security Council."
As for Iraq accusing weapons inspectors of being spies, Diamond might have mentioned that this accusation has proven to
be correct. The Washington Post reported in 1999 (1/8/99) that "United Nations arms inspectors helped collect
eavesdropping intelligence used in American efforts to undermine the Iraqi regime."
USA Today was clearly aware of the spy story, since the paper wrote an editorial excusing it. Headlined "Spying Flap
Merely a Sideshow" (1/8/99), the paper argued that "spying on Saddam Hussein is nothing new and nothing needing an
apology. But the Clinton administration suddenly is scrambling to explain why it did just that." The paper added that
the information gathered "no doubt found uses other than just weapons detection. That may not be playing by the books,
but it's understandable and probably inevitable."
ENDS
ACTION: Contact USA Today and ask that the paper correct the errors in its August 8 report on Iraq, "Saddam Already
Battling Invasion."
CONTACT:
USA Today
Elisa Tinsley, World Editor
editor@usatoday.com
Phone: 1-800-872-0001
As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if you maintain a polite tone. Please cc
fair@fair.org with your correspondence.