Gregory allowed 61-detainee falsehood to stand unrebutted on Meet the Press

[underpants]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200901250006?f=h_top

Summary: On Meet the Press, host David Gregory allowed Rep. John Boehner to repeat the falsehood that, in Boehner's words, "we've already found" that 61 detainees released from the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay are now "back on the battlefield." In fact, the figure, which comes from the Pentagon, includes 43 former prisoners who are suspected of, but have not been confirmed as, having engaged in terrorist activity. Moreover, even the Pentagon's claim that it has confirmed that 18 former Guantánamo detainees have returned to the battlefield has been questioned by experts.

Gregory did not note that according to the Pentagon, the 61-detainee figure includes 43 former prisoners who are suspected of, but have not been confirmed as, having engaged in terrorist activity -- detainees who have not been "already found <...> back on the battlefield," as Boehner asserted. Indeed, as Media Matters for America noted, during a January 13 press conference, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell stated: "The new numbers are, we believe, 18 confirmed and 43 suspected of returning to the fight. So 61 in all former Guantanamo detainees are confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight."

Further, the Pentagon's definition of "returning to the fight" has been challenged by some analysts. As CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen noted on the January 23 edition of Anderson Cooper 360: "eturning to the fight, in Pentagon terms, could be engaging in anti-American propaganda, something that's not entirely surprising if you have been locked up in a prison camp for several years without charge." Bergen further stated: "hen you really boil it down, the actual number of people whose names we know are about eight out of the 520 that have been released , so a little above 1 percent, that we can actually say with certainty have engaged in anti-American terrorism or insurgence activities since they have been released. ... If the Pentagon releases more information about specific people, I think it would be possible to -- to potentially agree with them. But, right now, that information isn't out there."

[BlooInBloo]

1. The problem is one's expectations. Journalists simply aren't concerned with the truth...

"It's not our role", as Gregory himself explicitly said.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/12/29/gregory/

Once you readjust your expectations of journalists, it's pretty much smooth sailing from there.

[bobd0]

2. Is anyone still watching press the meat? nt

[oldnslo]

3. Gregory does a poor job with Russert's shoes. Can't fill 'em,

Can't even come close, and never will. Maybe we will have to lower our expectations.

[Bravo Zulu]

4. What are mtp ratings theses days,

just curious, I refuse to watch anybody that dances with turd blossom!