Schieffer: Can We Handle the Truth?

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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During the court martial scene in the movie "A Few Good Men," young Navy prosecutor Tom Cruise put Marine Colonel Jack Nicholson on the stand and demanded the truth.

Nicholson replied, "The truth? You can't handle the truth!"

A memorable line, but we are left to as: Has the government concluded Nicholson's character was right, that Americans can't handle the truth?

As the war has grown worse, we have heard government spokesmen from the top on down tell us "Stuff happens," "Mission accomplished," "Enormous progress," "The good news is not reported."

We can't even get a straight story on how our troops die.

Last week, the Pentagon first reported that four Americans were killed in Iraq while repelling an enemy attack. Then on Friday we were told they had actually been kidnapped during a shootout and executed, two of them handcuffed and shot in the head.

In the hours after the killings, reporters who had pieced together the real story were told their version was inaccurate. The new Secretary of Defense claimed he was unaware of the new information an hour before it was announced.

The government argues that public criticism hurts the war effort, but it is being damaged much more by its own loss of credibility brought on by such incidents.

Truth is the foundation of democracy and Americans can handle the truth — they demand it. History shows that when they fail to get it, they no longer follow their leaders, no matter the cause. They are more likely to just change leaders.

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E-mail Face the Nation.
By Bob Schieffer

[bluestardad]

Make the Congress and the Administration define who the enemy is in Iraq. The Neocons cannot tell you who we are sending our troops to fight. It is a sure bet that the Chicken Hawks are not going to go fight. Saudis are aiding the Sunnis and Iran is aiding the Shiites and the 12 former members of Saddam%u2019s regime are running scared hiding in caves! So how do we tell our troops to fire upon? Why is America even there? OK here is your chance, don%u2019t just set in front of your computer and complain spouting meaningless rants of sludge, do something about it! This is the contact address for your Senator! Send them a message of your opinion. All Class Two Senators are up for Reelection in 2008. Be respectful even if they do not deserve it because their office does! http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[j0hnwi11iams]

Here is the truth:

The Fascists LIE. Guilt through free association.

[j0hnwi11iams]

People actually spitting on soldiers? My GOD do you people have any shame spreading FALSE rumors like that.

Yeah, the reich wingers spread the same misinformation about returning Vietnam vets. Not ONE actual case. LIARS.

[j0hnwi11iams]

Truth is to conservatives what sunlight is to vampires.

[hillaryin08]

Here is another news flash: The Democrat war protesters have started to take it out on the troops!

I guess this is their way of supporting them by spitting on them and calling them names.

[mikekleber]

It makes me sick to hear Bush all of a sudden threatening Iran. I firmly believe he is planning some type of action against Iran before he leaves office. And, after hearing Cheney in his recent interview, our dynamic duo has an attack of some sort in the works. Congress should make a deal with Bush, Cheney and Rice: the three of them would get all of the support they're requesting if each one spends one month personally in combat in Iraq. I think our troops would be home before you know it.

[bluestardad]

Even handed Reporting; When will the American Media and Government hold equally accountable the other people feeding insurgents in the Iraq war? The Saudi Arabian Government is providing financial, military and personnel aid to the Sunni insurgents also. We never hear President Bush or the media demanding they Saudi back off its support to the Sunni insurgents as he does his rhetoric against the Iranians. 15 of the 19 hijackers that hit us on September 11, 2001 were from Saudi and so was Bin Laden! These people are friends of the Bush family! But they are still killing American Soldiers. The American people have spoken on November 7, 2006 and demand that our elected officials pull our troops out of Iraq and start negotiations with all countries in the region on an equal basis. This Rovian Sound Bite that disagreement with the Presidents policies in the Middle East provides aid and comfort to the enemy is preposterous and rejected by the American people. First off the President and his Rovian Neocons Chicken Hawks who got us into this war don%u2019t know who the enemy is. Nor can they define the enemy we are fighting now! Is the enemy the Saudi back Sunnis or the Iranian backed Shiites that have been our friends for 20 years, could it possibly be the hold outs from the old Saddam regime or maybe just anyone who disagrees with President Bush?

[gray_owl_55]

Bob, after reading the venomous hatred being spewed by those who buy into the politics of fear and bigotry in the disguise of %u201Cpatriotism%u201D or blind loyalty seem to be having the most difficulty separating fact from deception. It appears that some of us can%u2019t handle the truth.

Arguing about %u201Cwhich strategy to win%u201D to use in Iraq is intended to be a distraction so we won%u2019t question how bad the policy is. Our foreign policy in the Middle East is to export democracy through aggressive military intervention. Central to this policy is %u201Cthe belief that the U.S. military must control the world, or else the world will descend into chaos%u201D. This quote was taken directly from a primer on Neoconservatism. Sound familiar? Substitute the word %u201Cworld%u201D for %u201CIraq%u201D. WMD was just the pretext to initiate this policy. Fear, patriotism and trust were the tools used to manipulate our loyality. To those who say it doesn%u2019t matter how we got into Iraq we must complete the mission. %u201CThe Mission%u201D has always been building a presidential and republican legacy. Iraq was supposed to be the mission trophy because it was percieved to be an easy victory. Now that this illconcieved pretext and disastrously executed con game is falling apart. At what point does blind loyality become nieve denial, and finally recognition that you have been hoodwinked?

[dallison7]

There is no way God or no God that it is natural for men to be with men and women to be with men.
Posted by Covair63 at 01:19 PM : Jan 29, 2007


HUH???

[drdilemma]

The people in Washington DC are called '' REPRESENTATIVES ''
not the people in power....
Posted by USAwatchman at 01:41 PM : Jan 29, 2007

Too bad the Duh-cider and Darth Cheney can't grasp this concept. I guess in their eyes they are representing the few thousand die hard neocons who ignore truth, oh and the executives of Halliburton...