Cronkite: Terrorism a "Revolution of the Poor Against the Rich"

Media Research Center ^ | Tuesday September 10, 2002 | staff

[fight_truth_decay]

Blame America First. The 9-11 attacks were our own fault, former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite contended on Monday's Larry King Live on CNN, because we hog so much of the world's wealth while many are destitute.

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened," before he asserted that anti-U.S. terrorism is caused by "this great division between the rich and the poor in the world." The people of the world "who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education," Cronkite warned, "are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly." Walter Cronkite attributed terrorism to U.S. policy and world poverty: "We are suffering from a revolution of the...have-nots against the...haves and that's us."

Applying liberal logic which seeks to blame the U.S. for all the world's ills, Cronkite declared: "We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

In fact, the al Qaeda terrorists were hardly poor and the vast majority of the world's poor do not support terrorism. The common elements amongst those targeting the U.S. is Islamic extremism and nation's without respect for individual liberty.

Cronkite's liberal ranting came about 45 minutes into the live September 9 interview tied to the 9-11 anniversary.

King prompted Cronkite by wondering about "foreign policy's affect on what might have caused 9-11?"

That set off Cronkite: "Yes, I think very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened." King interjected: "Doesn't excuse it." But Cronkite plowed forward without acknowledging King's caveat, so he presumably did not agree with it: "We have been warned by other terrorist attacks elsewhere of the dislike for us and the intensity of organization to express that dislike in various terrorist acts around the country -- the two embassies that were blown up in Africa, the Destroyer Cole, for instance, episode, and that sort of thing. "It should be apparent to us, it should have been apparent to us a long time ago and it certainly should be apparent now -- it should be, for goodness sakes understood now, but it is not, that the problem is this great division between the rich and the poor in the world. We represent the rich. Each of our citizens is not rich, of course, but as a country we are exceedingly rich. As a country, all of these, most of these other nations of Africa, Asia and South America and Central America are very, very poor. The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies, in our travels around the world, in our airlines, in our shipping. "They're not going to put up with that forever. This is a revolution in effect around the world. A revolution is in place today. We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

Yes, it's all our fault and Osama bin Laden is just trying to help the world's downtrodden improve themselves.

[Tao Yin]

No shit!

[Salvey]

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened,"

It's time for Walter to re-read "Final Exit" and follow the instructions therein.

[Saundra Duffy]

He can't be trusted for one minute now.

[scooter2]

Cronkite is a liberal pattsy.

In reality, Cronkite is a liberal pussy.

[steve-b]

What an idiot. The terrorists are wealthy (by local standards, and in some cases by any standards) Arabs, not destitute Fourth Worlders.

[fight_truth_decay]

"The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies.."...No they don't..they need only to look at their so-called leaders and all the wealth have stolen for themselves..Sadam..Ara_fart, Laden..

[subterfuge]

Words fail me bump...

[Tao Yin]

Again... No shit!

Why can't people understand this? Or more importantly, why don't people want to understand this?

[Cultural Jihad]

Well, one could apply the 'libertarian principles' of no-force and no-fraud and come up with a rationalization for anything, including flying planes into buildings. There may be some Libertarian-Communists who claim that wage-slavery is a form of force and fraud.

[smiley]

Stick a sock in it Walt! Shouldn't YOU be on your YACHT cruising with Bill Clinton?

[GunRunner]

This kind of traitorous tripe doesn't really deserve a response. But I would like to point out Cronkite's basic stupidity of world history and revolution. Any student of Crane Brinton's theory knows that people who are poor and destitute almost never revolt; they are too busy trying to come up with the next meal. They don't have time to pick up a gun (or hijack a plane) and fight, because their mind is on surviving day to day, not self-determination, independence, or freedom.

On the contrary, many countries experience revolution while the economy is recovering or even booming.

I can't believe my parents' generation depended on this boob for news. But then, they didn't have Laurie Dhue back then :')

[fight_truth_decay]

laughs..am not doing that one!!!

[aruanan]

Cronkite should be tested for Alzheimers because something sure is addling his thought processes.

[sheik yerbouty]

The old bugger really is senile!

[Willie Green]

Pound sand, Walter.

Gotta admit, Walter remembers firsthand what happened to the czar and his family.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

America "hogs the world's wealth" and Cronkite is wealthier than 99.8% of Americans. Perhaps the old fool wants to give the terrorists his address.

(Although I'm sure he feels that he earned his wealth, whereas every other American came by it dishonestly.

[Let's Roll]

Uncle Walter, you are so out of touch.

[Corporate Law]

Walter, if you have a problem being wealthy, I would be more than happy to take that problem off your hands.

[D. Brian Carter]

Not only did we create such wealth, how much of it do we, as a country, distribute across the globe, for the express purpose of building hospitals, providing food, assisting in educating the poor, etc. etc.? Can anyone even quantify the trillions of dollars we have provided to all nations and peoples, whether in direct aid for the aforementioned items, or in military assistance (saving Europe's ass in WWI & WWII, for example), or in the rebuilding of ruined cities, or to prop up broken economies??? When will our nation be recognized for any of the GOOD that we do, any of the POSITIVE things we bestow upon all humanity? Maybe it's time to withdraw into an isolationist corner again, and let the rest of the world devise solutions to all their problems without ANY of our aid and assistance.