MRC’s Brent Baker reports on the end of the controversial 35-minute Nightline devoted to Ted Koppel announcing, over matching pictures, the names of servicemen killed in Iraq over the past 13 months. Koppel concluded that “the reading tonight of those 721 names was neither intended to provoke opposition to the war, nor was it meant as an endorsement.” Koppel acknowledged, however, that “some of you doubt that” and “are convinced that I am opposed to the war.” He insisted: “I’m not.”
But he did offer a personal opinion which seemed to integrate
the liberal criticism of the Bush administration for not asking for sacrifices, such as raising taxes: “I am opposed to sustaining the illusion that war can be waged by the sacrifice of a few without burdening the rest of us in any way. I oppose the notion that to be at war is to forfeit the right to question, criticize or debate our leaders’ policies.”