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Cronkite Wants U.S. Forces Out of Iraq Now (Murtha Predicts Pullout)
Associated Press ^ | Jan. 15, 2006 | DAVID BAUDER

Posted on 01/16/2006 11:32:49 AM PST by kellynla

PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 15) - Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

"It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters.

Now 89, the television journalist once known as "the most trusted man in America" has been off the "CBS Evening News" for nearly a quarter-century. He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them.

Cronkite said one of his proudest moments came at the end of a 1968 documentary he made following a visit to Vietnam during the Tet offensive. Urged by his boss to briefly set aside his objectivity to give his view of the situation, Cronkite said the war was unwinnable and that the U.S. should exit.

Then-President Lyndon Johnson reportedly told a White House aide after that, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

The best time to have made a similar statement about Iraq came after Hurricane Katrina, he said.

"We had an opportunity to say to the world and Iraqis after the hurricane disaster that Mother Nature has not treated us well and we find ourselves missing the amount of money it takes to help these poor people out of their homeless situation and rebuild some of our most important cities in the United States," he said. "Therefore, we are going to have to bring our troops home."

Iraqis should have been told that "our hearts are with you" and that the United States would do all it could to rebuild their country, he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at articles.news.aol.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: armchairgenerals; cronkite; cutandrun; handwringers; iraq; war
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Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., contends that political pressure will prompt the administration to pull most troops from Iraq this year.

"I think we could have been able to retire with honor," he said. "In fact, I think we can retire with honor anyway."

Cronkite has spoken out against the Iraq war in the past, saying in 2004 that Americans weren't any safer because of the invasion.

Cronkite, who is hard of hearing and walks haltingly, jokingly said that "I'm standing by if they want me" to anchor the "CBS Evening News." CBS is still searching for a permanent successor to Dan Rather, who replaced Cronkite in March 1981.

"Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every day since," he said. "It's too good a job for me to have given it up the way that I did."

1 posted on 01/16/2006 11:32:50 AM PST by kellynla
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To: kellynla

Cheer up, Walter. Merck's new anti-senility drug is in Phase II trials. It won't be too long now.


2 posted on 01/16/2006 11:36:46 AM PST by SAJ
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To: kellynla
Murtha predicts?? pullout.

There were over 20 brigades in Iraq before Thanksgiving, there are 18 now, and there will be 15 by mid February.

Kinda like predicting rain during the monsoon.
3 posted on 01/16/2006 11:36:49 AM PST by HEY4QDEMS (Learn from the past, don't live in it.)
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To: kellynla
I also want US Forces out of Iraq by the end of the year. They're needed in Iran!

(I doubt that's what Cronkite and Murtha are asking for...)

4 posted on 01/16/2006 11:37:05 AM PST by inkling
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To: kellynla
Alzheimer's kicking in.
5 posted on 01/16/2006 11:39:15 AM PST by HOTTIEBOY (I know what I'd do. I'd take that bet then crawfish and drill that ole devil in the......)
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To: kellynla

Cronkite would also like to start having regular bowel movements too


6 posted on 01/16/2006 11:39:29 AM PST by sure_fine (*not one to over kill the thought process*)
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To: kellynla

Walter Cronkite is highly qualified to have an opinion. That's about all he's highly qualified for.


7 posted on 01/16/2006 11:40:00 AM PST by Clara Lou (A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality. --I. Kristol)
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To: kellynla
Memo To Walter Cronkite:
Typical Idiot!
Click the Pic

8 posted on 01/16/2006 11:40:08 AM PST by Fiddlstix (Tagline Repair Service. Let us fix those broken Taglines. Inquire within(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: kellynla
Oh - Cronkite wants it?
Well, let's pack our bags, then!
9 posted on 01/16/2006 11:40:41 AM PST by grobdriver (Let the embeds check the bodies!)
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To: inkling
I also want US Forces out of Iraq by the end of the year. They're needed in Iran!

LOL,I think there are enough to finish both jobs! Meanwhile, the US wants Walt to STFU!!!
10 posted on 01/16/2006 11:41:08 AM PST by proud_yank (Aspiring CEO of a multinational corporation)
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To: HEY4QDEMS

all murtha needs to do is cut off funding for the war ... but he's too big a pansy, as well as shrillary, etal, to suggest such


11 posted on 01/16/2006 11:41:14 AM PST by InvisibleChurch (The search for someone to blame is always successful. - Robert Half)
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To: kellynla
Old Cronkite just won't move to Cuba where he belongs.
12 posted on 01/16/2006 11:42:15 AM PST by Steveone (Liberalism is a brain tumor!)
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To: kellynla

"Then-President Lyndon Johnson reportedly told a White House aide after that, 'If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.'"

But you gain Paddy Buchanan? ;-)

"The best time to have made a similar statement about Iraq came after Hurricane Katrina, he said."

This is Cronkite basically admitting that his assessment of the Tet Offensive was not objective and rational - relative to the situation on the ground - but rather a political statement of the war overall, and, I gather, war against Communist enemies.

The reason he did damage to the war cause was because many viewers believed that he was speaking factually, that militarily, Tet was a defeat. What a con! This is how Dems have operated for a long time.


13 posted on 01/16/2006 11:43:24 AM PST by Frank T
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To: sure_fine
Cronkite would also like to start having regular bowel movements too

At this point in his life his bowel movements are the only thing he's got going that have anything to do with 60 minutes.

14 posted on 01/16/2006 11:44:31 AM PST by tx_eggman (Leave them whimpering in a pool of sweat - Hook'em Horns)
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To: sure_fine

He is regular. Every morning he has one at six o'clock. He wakes up at 7:30.


15 posted on 01/16/2006 11:45:19 AM PST by massgopguy (massgopguy)
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To: kellynla
I watched Cronkite on Larry King Live once.

The conversation turned to the "religious right" and Cronkite turned downright nasty and venomous. Then he went off on Christians in general, and his eyes were full of disgust and anger.


16 posted on 01/16/2006 11:45:35 AM PST by SkyPilot
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To: kellynla

Quit embarrassing our alma mater, Cronkite.


17 posted on 01/16/2006 11:46:24 AM PST by Flightdeck (Longhorns+January=Rose Bowl Repeat)
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To: kellynla

Cronkite, still criminally stupid after all these years.


18 posted on 01/16/2006 11:47:09 AM PST by MNJohnnie (Is there a satire god who created Al Gore for the sole purpose of making us laugh?)
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To: SAJ
I did not trust Cronkite then and I do not trust him now. He betrayed America and the South Vietnamese by calling the TET offensive a defeat for America when it was not and propelled the Democrat-controlled congress into defunding Vietnamization which was working successfully. He misled America because Americans thought he was trustworthy. He was not then, and he is not now.
19 posted on 01/16/2006 11:47:42 AM PST by TheGeezer
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To: HOTTIEBOY
Alzheimer's kicking in.

It kicked in 40 years ago.

20 posted on 01/16/2006 11:47:43 AM PST by River_Wrangler (Nothing difficult is ever easy!)
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To: kellynla
Maybe I'm of another generation, but why the hell should anyone care what Walter Cronkite thinks? I don't think people are as naive and uniformed as they were during Vietnam, so his opinion is really just blather. It's his right and all, but who cares?
21 posted on 01/16/2006 11:48:21 AM PST by QueenBee3 ("Phone's ringin dude.")
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To: kellynla

I thought he was dead. (Cronkite, that is.)


22 posted on 01/16/2006 11:49:09 AM PST by livius
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To: QueenBee3

The only thing that might happen when Cronkite stamps his foot is his pecker might fall off. What he wants ain't cutting it.


23 posted on 01/16/2006 11:49:59 AM PST by Williams
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To: kellynla
Cronkite....pathetic old Komrade mole....
24 posted on 01/16/2006 11:50:30 AM PST by yer gonna put yer eye out (To liberals, using large words is an acceptable substitute for logic...)
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To: kellynla; CasearianDaoist; headsonpikes; beyond the sea; E.G.C.; Military family member; ...
"Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every day since," he said. "It's too good a job for me to have given it up the way that I did."
Good old Walter, he hasn't changed a bit. Arrogant and condescending as ever.

Thing is, I have changed. In the seventies I knew that the leftists were wrong, but I didn't understand why and how as fully as I do now. Now I understand that the business imperatives of mass-market journalism match up perfectly with the political imperatives of leftism.

There's no difference between journalism's perspective and a liberal Democratic politician's perspective; it's the same demagoguery either way. Journalists cannot have a different perspective than poliical leftists, because journalists are homogeneous for economic reasons - and leftists take their politics from the propaganda wind coming out of journalism.

Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate


25 posted on 01/16/2006 11:51:05 AM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion (The idea around which liberalism coheres is that NOTHING actually matters but PR.)
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To: kellynla

His opinion should weigh precisely that of Madonna’s.


26 posted on 01/16/2006 11:51:24 AM PST by dighton
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To: Flightdeck

Embarrassing that an Eagle Scout would act that way too. I wonder what happened to the reverent part.


27 posted on 01/16/2006 11:52:23 AM PST by reagandemo (The battle is near are you ready for the sacrifice?)
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

Media bias bump.


28 posted on 01/16/2006 11:52:49 AM PST by E.G.C.
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To: kellynla
Cronkite Wants U.S. Forces Out of Iraq Now (Murtha Predicts Pullout)

Noise from socialist tools.

29 posted on 01/16/2006 11:54:11 AM PST by MrBambaLaMamba (Buy 'Allah' brand urinal cakes - If you can't kill the enemy at least you can piss on their god)
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To: kellynla
Walter is not any different than he was during Vietnam

He came out of the Marxist closet during Tet '68 when we owned the countryside...and effectively the night..the VC were broken in the south and even the NVA thought it better to hole up..

In the middle of victory Cronkite declared our defeat every night on national TV until even main stream mom and pop believed it..because they were mislead into believing Cronkite.

Walter gets on national TeeVee with his reputation for truth and honesty and BETRAYS the Americans fighting in Viet Nam and our allies...

Cronkite is who turned the silent majority against the war or at least they became apathetic to it and the war's veterans afterwards..

I blame Cronkite and Kerry most for the treatment of veterans post Vietnam and the abandoning of our POW-MIAs

Many if not most of the post '68 TET US and ARVN casualties can also be laid at Cronkite's doorstep

imo

30 posted on 01/16/2006 11:54:20 AM PST by joesnuffy (A camel once bit our sister.. but we knew what to do.. we gathered rocks and squashed her!)
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To: kellynla
Image hosted by Photobucket.com i can only pray there's a special place in hell with CronCrap's name ENGRAVED on it...
31 posted on 01/16/2006 11:54:40 AM PST by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
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To: kellynla

"He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them."

It seems this description fits all CBS employees.


32 posted on 01/16/2006 11:54:52 AM PST by RouxStir (Peaceful muslim...The Ultimate Oxymoron!)
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To: kellynla

Duplicate article (AOL changed the title), but having it up twice ensures that more people see what a traitor this POS is.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1558676/posts


33 posted on 01/16/2006 11:57:50 AM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: kellynla

Self-indulgent, treasonous, cowardly, pompous old fart.


34 posted on 01/16/2006 12:03:50 PM PST by garyhope (Happy, healthy, prosperous New Year to all good Freepers and our brave military.)
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

Great comments fit right in with your great link. BTTT!


35 posted on 01/16/2006 12:03:59 PM PST by PGalt
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To: kellynla

STFU Commie.


36 posted on 01/16/2006 12:06:19 PM PST by JackDanielsOldNo7 (If it wasn't for marriage, I would not have this screenname.)
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To: dighton
His opinion should weigh precisely that of Madonna’s.

LOL - I think they all call Striesand and Clooney so they can be told what to think. What a buncha maroons.

37 posted on 01/16/2006 12:10:11 PM PST by GaltMeister (“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”)
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To: kellynla

Ol' Walt certainly didn't "retire with honor."


38 posted on 01/16/2006 12:11:20 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: kellynla
"It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said

"It's my belief that you should STFU Wally," rockabyebaby said!

39 posted on 01/16/2006 12:14:42 PM PST by rockabyebaby (I'm not afraid to say out loud what the rest of you are afraid to admit.)
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To: kellynla
Another 60's icon trying to revive and relive their glory days. I hated that pompous ass then and hate him more now.
40 posted on 01/16/2006 12:18:31 PM PST by Natural Law
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To: kellynla

To misquote King Theoden from "Lord Of The Rings": "When last I looked, it was Bush who is President, not Cronkite".


41 posted on 01/16/2006 12:19:40 PM PST by NRA1995 (GOOOOOOO STEELERS!!!)
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To: kellynla
Walter Cronkite. Walter Cronkite.

Name rings a bell.

I guess he's still alive, but according to your information he's hard of hearing and walks haltingly no doubt due to the load he's carrying.

42 posted on 01/16/2006 12:25:29 PM PST by FerdieMurphy (For English, Press One. (Tookie, you won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes. Oh, too late.))
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To: kellynla

Cronkite aggressively pursued a campaign of misinformation and lies about the actual situation in Vietnam which led to our unnecessary and shameful abandonment of SEA. Why should we believe him now?


43 posted on 01/16/2006 12:40:26 PM PST by TigersEye (All Americans should be armed and dangerous!)
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To: kellynla

Hang up your jowls and retire (preferably France), Mr. Crankite. Your opinion expressed about the Vietnam war and the following pullout, along with other anti-war windbags caused the death of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians. Now you and your ilk wish to exit Iraq and leave behind a victory for the insurgents and terrorists. If an exit prematurely comes to pass blood will be on the hands of cowardly and defeatist hands again.

Never again should we repeat the cut and run tragedies of Vietnam, Beirut or Somalia.


44 posted on 01/16/2006 12:46:50 PM PST by gpapa (Boost FR Traffic! Make FR your home page!)
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To: Frank T

"Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every day since," he said. "It's too good a job for me to have given it up the way that I did."

His retirement came a bit too late for 2.5 million human beings slaughtered by the commies, both Vietnamese and Cambodian, after the US pulled out the support. Walter C. shares a great deal of responsibility for this course of events.
The brave US Armed Forces did not lose one battle in Vietnam but they lost the war because of people like Cronkite.
He claims that this,” Cronkite said the war was un-winnable and that the U.S. should exit” is his proudest moment, not surprising that he does not understand what is going on today. He shares the responsibility of the Cambodian/Vietnamese killing fields with Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda, Senator Kerry and quite a few others.

What he is proposing now is to commit the same mistake? Take him away and have him committed to a place that will not let him speak publicly again! Why is the left exhuming him from his swamp now?
These Liberals, they never learn! However, we did!


45 posted on 01/16/2006 12:53:16 PM PST by Jacques Sherock (Jacques Sherock)
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To: SkyPilot
The conversation turned to the "religious right" and Cronkite turned downright nasty and venomous. Then he went off on Christians in general, and his eyes were full of disgust and anger.
The second half of Black Rednecks And White Liberals by Thomas Sowell points out that although Christians did not oppose the institution of slavery as such from the inception of Christianity, no other religion but Christianity ever did. Slavery existed all over the world, from time immemorial - but only from the Eighteen Century did some Christians promote the idea that slavery as an institution was illegitimate. And only because Christians in general (and British in particular) became influential worldwide did the institution of slavery become delegitimated. Hindus didn't do that, Buddhists didn't do that, pagans didn't do that, and certainly Muslims didn't do that. And atheists didn't either. Only Christians, especially English-speaking ones.

Indeed, the British established a standing squadron of warships off the west coast of Africa - at substantial expense and for no material benefit to Britain - simply to interdict the slave trade because the British had come to be morally repulsed by it.

Maybe Uncle Walter hates Christianity because it has such serious claims to moral superiority over atheism.


46 posted on 01/16/2006 12:56:35 PM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion (The idea around which liberalism coheres is that NOTHING actually matters but PR.)
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To: kellynla
Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

What are the odds. Soft on Communism, soft on Terrorism. At least he's consistent.

Consistently anti-American.

47 posted on 01/16/2006 1:00:58 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all.)
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To: kellynla

I get so fed up every time I hear this old POS referred to as "the most trusted man in America" by some media elite in L.A. or New York who doesn't have the slightest inkling of what regular Americans think. I was just a kid in the 1960s, but I clearly remember my parents cursing Cronkite even then for his blatant leftwing bias, and saying things like, "Well, there goes the sarcastic raised eyebrow to tell us what we're supposed to think!" They were lower middle class working people from Texas, but they saw through him like a plate glass window and couldn't stand the anti-American jerk.


48 posted on 01/16/2006 1:07:43 PM PST by HHFi
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To: HHFi

Cronkite/Murtha= Grumpy Old Men...


49 posted on 01/16/2006 1:35:16 PM PST by se_ohio_young_conservative (We have a mission from beyond the stars to spread freedom.)
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To: SAJ

Walter Cronkite, the "most trusted man in TV" lied about the Viet Nam war. He reported American Victories as losses and Communist losses as victories.

At least now he has an excuse: he's off his meds.


50 posted on 01/16/2006 1:40:58 PM PST by R.W.Ratikal
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