Does CBS anchor Bob Schieffer think that if he issues ominous warnings about "civil war" in Iraq often enough it will eventually come true and vindicate his, as of yet, unfulfilled predictions? Neither ABC or NBC raised "civil war" in their Wednesday evening newscasts, but Bob Schieffer, who has been the most prolific anchor in pushing the dire warning, did so again as he pegged off how Saddam Hussein has turned his trial into a "farce" to insist that "Iraq teeters on the edge of civil war." Schieffer opened his broadcast with a downbeat litany: "Iraq's new parliament is scheduled to meet for the first time tomorrow, but again today political leaders could not agree on a cabinet to take charge of the government, top cleric's appeals for calm went unheeded and the country may be closer than ever to civil war..."
Back on February 22, Schieffer opened the CBS Evening News: "One of the worst days ever in Iraq, and it's Iraqis against Iraqis. A Middle East expert tells us the country has been plunged into civil war." And ten months ago, on May 19, Schieffer teased: "I'm Bob Schieffer. It just keeps getting worse in Iraq. The death toll is rising. Tension is growing between Shiites and Sunnis. Is the country sliding toward civil war?"
A March 2 MRC CyberAlert item compiled by the MRC's Rich Noyes, "Going Back to 2004, Nets Repeatedly Predict 'Civil War' in Iraq," lists several examples from CBS and the other networks.
Back to this week, Schieffer teased the March 15 CBS Evening News:
"Good evening I'm Bob Schieffer. Saddam takes the stand for the first time and again turns his trial into a farce as Iraq teeters on the edge of civil war."
Schieffer opened his newscast:
"Iraq's new parliament is scheduled to meet for the first time tomorrow, but again today political leaders could not agree on a cabinet to take charge of the government, top cleric's appeals for calm went unheeded and the country may be closer than ever to civil war. One call for Iraqis to stop killing each other came from Saddam Hussein of all people. The old dictator urged them to concentrate instead on killing Americans. Saddam spoke out as his trial resumed which again was more farce than legal proceeding. Our chief foreign correspondent, Lara Logan, was in the courtroom."
