The Brian Williams saga.

[muttly]

I was going to put this story in the Liberal News' biases and double standards thread, but this story doesn't really fit. Yes, NBC news has a liberal bias , but this really isn't about bias.
Brian Williams is being accused of lying about his account of what happened.

IMO , Williams DIDN'T INTENTIONALLY give false information in his story.
(Just my view. I could be wrong)
He did get some of his facts wrong.
There are still conflicting reports of some of the details, so this story isn't over yet.


http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/0...raq-account-is-challenged.html?_r=0&referrer=

 

[layoutshooter]

It is REALLY HARD to "forget" which helicopter you were on when you are under fire. Kinda like darn near impossible to "mix up" whether you were fired on, or not. That is like saying one is a "little bit" pregnant, or, "you can keep your health insurance plan".

 

[davekc]

Now claims are being reported that he lied and embellished reports he did during Katrina. Sounds like this is just developing. No idea if it is true or not?

 

[muttly]

It is REALLY HARD to "forget" which helicopter you were on when you are under fire. Kinda like darn near impossible to "mix up" whether you were fired on, or not. That is like saying one is a "little bit" pregnant, or, "you can keep your health insurance plan".

There is a conflicting report on this. CNN interviewed a pilot that says he was fired upon. Although it's unclear if he is in fact the actual pilot of the hellicopter Williams was in. There are conflicting reports on this too. Lol.

Pilot's take on Brian Williams' Iraq story - Video - Media

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/media/stelter-iraq-pilots/index.html

 

[xiggi]

He embellished the helicopter story more each time he told it, and got somewhat detailed. I think he was full of you know what.

 

[muttly]

Now claims are being reported that he lied and embellished reports he did during Katrina. Sounds like this is just developing. No idea if it is true or not?

NBC news is doing an internal investigation.
NBC to investigate Brian Williams about Iraq lie: sources - NY Daily News

 

[muttly]

It is REALLY HARD to "forget" which helicopter you were on when you are under fire. Kinda like darn near impossible to "mix up" whether you were fired on, or not. That is like saying one is a "little bit" pregnant, or, "you can keep your health insurance plan".

Here is some more info from the guy who claims he was Williams' pilot.
It has NOT been verified with certainty though that he was the pilot.
'When asked whether Williams would have been aware of the bullets hitting Krell’s Chinook, the pilot responded, “He would have been aware of it because the activity of the crew. The door gunners were returning fire.”

Pilot says Brian Williams?s chopper sustained small-arms fire, not RPG fire - The Washington Post

 

[skyraider]

Maybe Brian wanted to wear the uniform, but did not like being shot at, so he became a reporter and got to play act the life of a soldier and it got out of hand sorry Brian, no banana and no air medal...........................

 

[layoutshooter]

Here is some more info from the guy who claims he was Williams' pilot.
It has been verified with certainty though that he was the pilot.
'When asked whether Williams would have been aware of the bullets hitting Krell’s Chinook, the pilot responded, “He would have been aware of it because the activity of the crew. The door gunners were returning fire.”

One, there is a HUGH difference between "bullets" hitting a Chinook and the RPG rounds that Williams CLAIMED they were hit by. Two, it is not uncommon for door gunners from several ships to fire at the same time, whether they were fired on, or other's they were with were fired on. Air to ground fire is in no way proof that a particular Chinook was hit by RPG rounds.

Was there a link? If hopefully it was from a more reliable source than a "news network".

 

[muttly]

One, there is a HUGH difference between "bullets" hitting a Chinook and the RPG rounds that Williams CLAIMED they were hit by. Two, it is not uncommon for door gunners from several ships to fire at the same time, whether they were fired on, or other's they were with were fired on. Air to ground fire is in no way proof that a particular Chinook was hit by RPG rounds.

Was there a link? If hopefully it was from a more reliable source than a "news network".

The RPG round hit the other Chinook but didn't detonate.

 

[layoutshooter]

The RPG round hit the other Chinook but didn't detonate.

I am under the impression that Williams claimed he was on the Chinook that was hit by the RPG.

Either way, I am done with this for tonight. I am a contestant in the SE Michigan Ducks Unlimited "Chili Cookoff" tonight and I am leaving in a few minutes. It is the goal of Mrs. Layoutshooter, and myself, to work at enough events this year to take part in raising a minimum of $250K. Tonight is another event in that quest. Gee it's fun having a life at home!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Turtle]

He embellished the helicopter story more each time he told it, and got somewhat detailed. I think he was full of you know what.

He got the facts right when he initially reported it, but the facts got fuzzier and different with every reteling. I think he's senile.

 

[Ragman]

I don't care about which bias one has, however, if a reporter lies he needs to be fired immediately.

 

[wimpy007]

You will know when your Chopper is hit by small arms fire or a RPG, the picker factor is 10 ++.
Most of the time your memory is clear. The rounds of small arms fire have a tendency to bounce around , a RPG just takes you out.

 

[paullud]

Now claims are being reported that he lied and embellished reports he did during Katrina. Sounds like this is just developing. No idea if it is true or not?

I think NBC is going to try and ignore this one. He claimed that he saw a dead body float by his hotel but he was in the French Quarter which wasn't flooded. There are also his claims about getting dysentery among other questionable stories. I can't believe NBC would even try to hold onto him.

 

[davekc]

I think NBC is going to try and ignore this one. He claimed that he saw a dead body float by his hotel but he was in the French Quarter which wasn't flooded. There are also his claims about getting dysentery among other questionable stories. I can't believe NBC would even try to hold onto him.

The may not since they are doing their own investigation. We will be hearing the Brian Williams hour though on MSNBC.

 

[muttly]

This story is getting more bizarre.
From article:
TAPPER: [Chris Simeone] said that the only thing that hit their helicopter was dust, and that nothing that Williams reported in 2003 was accurate. I want to play some of what Brian Williams reported in 2003, in which there is this moment when somebody says there was small arms fire coming into the convoy. Let’s play that.
BRIAN WILLIAMS [VIDEO]: Indeed, just before we’re able to make our drop, radio traffic makes clear that this routine mission is running into trouble.
RADIO CHATTER [VIDEO]: We took fire on the way in. We currently are not under fire, I say again, not under fire, but we look for some kind of security, over.
TAPPER: So there is this moment where somebody’s saying our helicopter is taking small arms fire and it’s not taking it now, but they were and we need to find some place for security, over — that’s in the radio. Do you have any idea what that was in reference to?
TRITTEN: I do, actually. I spoke with the flight engineer on Williams’ Chinook, Joseph Miller, and what he told me is that Williams and the NBC crew, actually, they’d been given a headset and they had taken a microphone, and they had put it in the earpiece of the headset so that they could pick up the radio communications between the company that they were in and another company of Chinooks that was flying a separate mission in the opposite direction. So what you’re hearing is that radio chatter from that other company that was coming under fire.
Oh my: Did NBC News manipulate original Williams report to give ?under fire? impression? « Hot Air

Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News - CNN.com

 

[Ragman]

Fire NBC........

 

[Moot]

The following quote was taken from the text of the piece Muttly linked in post 1. There was no mention if Mr. Kurtz said this with a straight face.

A Fox News analyst, Howard Kurtz, said, “The admission raises serious questions about his credibility in a business that values that quality above all else.”

 

[muttly]

Maybe Williams' memory was blinded by science...
The science behind Brian Williams?s mortifying memory flub - The Washington Post