Nbadan
09-14-2007, 02:19 AM
The disgraced ABC consultant and the push for war in Iran
There's a huge new media scandal breaking this morning, and the headline so far -- that a much-used consultant to ABC News published a phony interview with Barak Obama -- may well be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The news about now ex-ABC consultant Alexis Debat (left) is just dribbling out, but I'm surprised people haven't been connecting the dots. This post will seek to connect a couple of them.
Simply put, Debat -- a former French defense official who now works at the (no, you can't make these things up) Nixon Center -- has also been a leading source in pounding the drumbeat for war in Iran, and directly linked to some bizarre stories -- reported on ABC's widely watched news shows, and nowhere else -- that either ratcheted up fears of terrorism or that could have stoked new tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Ironically, while Debat's alleged specialty is foreign affairs, it was a foray into American presidential politics that brought this budding scandal out into the open. This from today's article by Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post:
A former consultant to ABC's investigative unit admitted yesterday that he put his name on a purported interview with Barack Obama that he never conducted.
Alexis Debat, a former French defense official who now works at the Nixon Center, published the interview in the French magazine Politique Internationale. He said he had hired a freelance journalist to conduct the interview, in which the Democratic presidential candidate supposedly said that Iraq was "already a defeat for America" that has "wasted thousands of lives." Debat said he had been unable to locate the intermediary, and the Obama campaign says no such interview took place.
"I was scammed," Debat said. "I was very, very stupid. I made a huge mistake in signing that article and not checking his credentials."
But that's not the only red flag about Debat's credibility. It turns out that ABC News fired Debat as a consultant in June when it discovered that he had lied about earning a Ph.D. from the prestigious Sorbonne. According to the Post, ABC News also checked our Debat's work for the network and didn't find anything wrong. Today they say they'e checking again, and they should. Most recently, since ending his role with ABC, Debat helped raise a big international stir by pounding the drums for a U.S. attack on Iran.
The report came in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Times of London, right after rumors swept through Washington that aides to Vice President Dick Cheney were planning to use friendly news outlets -- including several others owned by Murdoch -- to whip up popular opinion for attacking Iran
Attywood (http://www.attytood.com/2007/09/the_disgraced_abc_consultant_a.html)
Here is another snip on this developing story..
ABC News checked out the stories Debat had worked on -- either as an on-air commentator, researcher or source -- and found no inaccuracies, network spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said. But in light of the Obama debacle, reported yesterday by ABC.com, a second review is underway. Debat had specialized in reports on terrorism and national security for the past six years.
"There are some very serious questions about exactly who he is and how he works," Schneider said. "We want nothing more than to get to the absolute bottom of that."
Debat, 35, whose doctoral thesis is posted on the Sorbonne's Web site, said he thought he had earned a PhD but that there was some "administrative issue" in which the degree "hadn't been registered correctly." He said he is suing the French university.
Debat's career seemed to be flourishing in the well-trafficked intersection of academia and the media. He directs the terrorism and national security program from a downtown office at the Nixon Center, set up by the former president shortly before his death. He wrote for its magazine, the National Interest, whose honorary chairman is Henry Kissinger.
The Nixon Center's executive director, Paul Saunders, said last night that Debat has resigned from the organization and the National Interest.
Debat also contributed regularly to Politique Internationale, a relationship, he said yesterday, that has probably ended. And he worked on high-profile stories for ABC, which hired him after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Ross said Debat was "very, very knowledgeable" about al-Qaeda and such terror figures as Zacarias Moussaoui, and "his information was spot on. The stuff always checked out."
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202333.html)
If you still had any doubts that the adminstration is using M$M moles to push iits 'rock-solid' case for war with Iran, just like they pushed for the case for war with Iraq in 2002, those doubts can go away now....
There's a huge new media scandal breaking this morning, and the headline so far -- that a much-used consultant to ABC News published a phony interview with Barak Obama -- may well be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The news about now ex-ABC consultant Alexis Debat (left) is just dribbling out, but I'm surprised people haven't been connecting the dots. This post will seek to connect a couple of them.
Simply put, Debat -- a former French defense official who now works at the (no, you can't make these things up) Nixon Center -- has also been a leading source in pounding the drumbeat for war in Iran, and directly linked to some bizarre stories -- reported on ABC's widely watched news shows, and nowhere else -- that either ratcheted up fears of terrorism or that could have stoked new tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Ironically, while Debat's alleged specialty is foreign affairs, it was a foray into American presidential politics that brought this budding scandal out into the open. This from today's article by Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post:
A former consultant to ABC's investigative unit admitted yesterday that he put his name on a purported interview with Barack Obama that he never conducted.
Alexis Debat, a former French defense official who now works at the Nixon Center, published the interview in the French magazine Politique Internationale. He said he had hired a freelance journalist to conduct the interview, in which the Democratic presidential candidate supposedly said that Iraq was "already a defeat for America" that has "wasted thousands of lives." Debat said he had been unable to locate the intermediary, and the Obama campaign says no such interview took place.
"I was scammed," Debat said. "I was very, very stupid. I made a huge mistake in signing that article and not checking his credentials."
But that's not the only red flag about Debat's credibility. It turns out that ABC News fired Debat as a consultant in June when it discovered that he had lied about earning a Ph.D. from the prestigious Sorbonne. According to the Post, ABC News also checked our Debat's work for the network and didn't find anything wrong. Today they say they'e checking again, and they should. Most recently, since ending his role with ABC, Debat helped raise a big international stir by pounding the drums for a U.S. attack on Iran.
The report came in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Times of London, right after rumors swept through Washington that aides to Vice President Dick Cheney were planning to use friendly news outlets -- including several others owned by Murdoch -- to whip up popular opinion for attacking Iran
Attywood (http://www.attytood.com/2007/09/the_disgraced_abc_consultant_a.html)
Here is another snip on this developing story..
ABC News checked out the stories Debat had worked on -- either as an on-air commentator, researcher or source -- and found no inaccuracies, network spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said. But in light of the Obama debacle, reported yesterday by ABC.com, a second review is underway. Debat had specialized in reports on terrorism and national security for the past six years.
"There are some very serious questions about exactly who he is and how he works," Schneider said. "We want nothing more than to get to the absolute bottom of that."
Debat, 35, whose doctoral thesis is posted on the Sorbonne's Web site, said he thought he had earned a PhD but that there was some "administrative issue" in which the degree "hadn't been registered correctly." He said he is suing the French university.
Debat's career seemed to be flourishing in the well-trafficked intersection of academia and the media. He directs the terrorism and national security program from a downtown office at the Nixon Center, set up by the former president shortly before his death. He wrote for its magazine, the National Interest, whose honorary chairman is Henry Kissinger.
The Nixon Center's executive director, Paul Saunders, said last night that Debat has resigned from the organization and the National Interest.
Debat also contributed regularly to Politique Internationale, a relationship, he said yesterday, that has probably ended. And he worked on high-profile stories for ABC, which hired him after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Ross said Debat was "very, very knowledgeable" about al-Qaeda and such terror figures as Zacarias Moussaoui, and "his information was spot on. The stuff always checked out."
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202333.html)
If you still had any doubts that the adminstration is using M$M moles to push iits 'rock-solid' case for war with Iran, just like they pushed for the case for war with Iraq in 2002, those doubts can go away now....