Shooting The Messenger

By Stanley W. Cloud.

Though most Americans have pondered their country's march to war with a certain amount of common sense, the same cannot be said for all their representatives on Capitol Hill. In recent weeks the halls of Congress have been fouled by superpatriotic blasts from a small band of conservative legislators. In a throwback to the most divisive days of the Vietnam War, they have impugned the loyalty of dissenters and journalists who raise questions about the Bush Administration's conduct of the war.

During the debate on granting the President authority to use force against Iraq, Gerald B.H. Solomon, the ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee, lambasted antiwar protesters. They are, Solomon intoned, "unshaven, shaggy-haired, drug-culture poor excuses for Americans." Then Solomon aimed his rhetorical blunderbuss at Bryant Gumbel, of NBC's Today show, who had expressed surprise at polls showing that most Americans felt the government was telling the press all they needed to know about the war. Quoth Solomon: "Evidently, ((Gumbel)) can't bear the idea of an American victory. He wants another American humiliation, another Vietnam."

In a similar vein, Bob Dornan, a G.O.P. colleague from California, took a shot at CBS. He charged that "for Gunga Dan ((Rather)), the more radical the cause, the more airtime it receives." Taking aim at a different target, House minority whip Newt Gingrich last week blasted Speaker Tom Foley for appointing to the Intelligence Committee liberals "who don't believe in intelligence gathering."

Of the jingoistic broadsides so far, the ugliest was issued last week by Wyoming Republican Alan Simpson, who erupted over CNN's reporting from Baghdad. Not content to raise legitimate questions about the network's airing of censored material, Simpson, citing an anonymous source, accused CNN correspondent Peter Arnett of being an Iraqi "sympathizer." What evidence did the Senator have, other than the fact that Arnett is the only correspondent for an American news organization reporting continuously from Baghdad since the war began, albeit under the acknowledged control and censorship of the Iraqi government? Well, said Simpson, in a befuddled attempt to establish guilt by association, Arnett "is married to a Vietnamese whose brother was active in the Viet Cong."

In fact, the New Zealand-born Arnett and his wife have been separated for years. And although some friends and family members differ about the alleged Viet Cong connections of Arnett's in-laws, the issue is beside the point. Asked to explain the relevance of his remarks, an unrepentant Simpson would say only that such information is often revealed about public officials, rarely about journalists. Arnett, he added, "is being coddled by an enemy government."

Journalists should not be immune to criticism. But neither they nor anyone else should be the target of gratuitous, unfounded attacks on their loyalty and integrity. Whether or not Simpson and the other Capitol Hill fire breathers realize it, that was one of the lessons of the Vietnam War.

With reporting by Hays Gorey/Washington