Open Letter To Ted , Saddam Arnett, Oliver, & Smith.

                              To Little , Very Much To Late;;

Your message is   Acknowledged and  not   ACCEPTED
or in another famous AIRBORNE  ..response    " NUT's.."

Turner " Nothing has upset me more probably in my whole life"

TED, I guess you  missed that photo of someone with, her friends,  in Hanoi
that were shooting down American  jets.

You know  "TED"  a hell of alot of  good GI's were a little upset over that ,
but they  were killed before they could return home to complain about it.  But
some of us made it back ,  we are  old now , BUT we are proud  and we served
our country with Honor then, as we do now.
We will go to our graves to protect our country and the honor of those that
have given their all.

All of you " Suits"  at CNN/ TIME and yourself, what ever you do  , seem  to
have missed the point  of this entire offensive AND IT IS AN OFFENSIVE , mybe
the last battle for many of us.. It's something you all don't seem to
understand..we refer to it in very simple terms, that  most average  Americans
understand  it DUTY, HONOR  and COUNTRY...

I for one don't want any of your  money   the people that were damaged on your
show are the ones that will  have to decide on this.

Your money may try to buy influence in the Untied Nations but our Honor  and
that of our Country is not for sale ..

What you all did to Admiral Moore should have the entire AARP  and every
Senior
Citizen in this country on your case, if they are not already.

Did any of you people have older parents ( or infact parents) that were  once
proud and bright  people , that you loved, would die for  , grew old  and
feeble  before your
 eyes ? All I can is shame , Shame..
 
 

                  MY PERSONAL MESSAGE

Are we Special Forces Veterans and other Vietnam Veterans and Citizens of the
GREAT COUNTRY  going to be satisfied with  CNN's continued  " I'm Sorry" ,so
called , retraction??? Just to protect them  from court room damages, that
they will soon face.
 

Sorry !  Is not enough for the damage  CNN has caused, not only to members of
SF/SOG, etc. but THE CITIZENS of  OUR COUNTRY ..

If as per their retraction, they ( their lawyer )  was able to review
CNN tapes , film etc. and within just a few weeks  convinced to  retract
the story ,WHY was the story aired , in the first place ?  By so called
professional journalists.

 In the retraction they are NOT saying that Nerve Gas " Was NOT USED" but
..just that they can't prove it..from their own interviews, and are  NOW
sorry they ran the story ...and further  who knows someday they may have to
come back and retract their retraction, being made today. ( I  assume that
this is to imply if  and when the " truth" comes out)

 Is this a retraction????

 So I guess in CNN's eyes SOG/SF and the US are still guilty of the CNN lie
until WE can  prove our innocence.

 I guess this is CNN's understanding of justice in the United States as per
Media 101..
 
How do you, CNN , undo a lie.?
 Well  "TED" , it's as simple as going back to the scene of the alleged crime
and carry out an investigation , law enforcement units all over the country do
it every day. You interview people in Laos and in Hanoi, ( now know people
who could open some doors for you, here)  do forensic studies, check
documents, etc. etc. trace the case from the batttlefield in Laos to the files
of CNN.
Present your case to the  JURY the AMERICAN PEOPLE in a little more than 18
minutes, I'd trust.
You see  "TED" CNN has placed us, the United States,  into  a position like
the defendant that was asked by the judge " When did you  LAST beat your wife"
we have no defense , all we can  hope to present, with the help of CNN, is
facts and let the jury of public opinon decide, our fate....

Knowing of course , in the reaches of your network,  the rebuttal show  will
now be labled as a cover up.

Only  with a show  of  the story behind the story will the facts come out and
if CNN won't do it  the Congress must.

 A full hearing needs  be held by the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee so that the entire files on  CNN can be reviewed  and
an  official report presented to the American people and the World,so that an
attempt can be made to correct the  wrong done to our country.

 Also what about  MG Perry Smith, ? The real hero here, for us, and our
country and now not with CNN.,

Will he be offered his job back at CNN?

More importantly,  will he take  his job back ?

I hope he will we be offered his job back  CNN and  our country   need  people
like him, who can not only be professional  in what they do, BUT ! willing to
stand up to the " Boss" when he is  wrong..  MG Smith would be a good
consultant for you on your follow up show , but not in charge, we want to
attempt to preclude  any allergations of a cover up.

MG Smith will have, I'm sure,  the full support of all our  forces and we will
render him and the CNN TEAM the fullest of assistance.

I also recommend that you have each major TV network and major news outlet
have a person on the team., not  just from CNN , sorry your creditability has
been damaged in this battle.
 
You know TED , that  FORMER CUB REPORTER , April, something, is your best
defense, she even has me almost convinced that she and she alone put eight
months of her life into this story and she and she alone should get all the
credit, Well  ! why not give it to her, with both barrels right between the
eyes..

But you know that movie " On Golden Pond" that to me is a classic, I had and
do get  tears in my eyes each time I see it..The same way I and I'm sure the
Adm., Moore family feels each time they see CNN's  Tailwind Story. so much in
common,.both were tales of getting old, both were  produced to  MAKE MONEY ..

I trust that I haven't exceeded my limited 18 minutes (  whats the other 12
minutes for , or yes I almost forgot your sponsors , even the US Postal
Service , did you know that a large percentage of those guys are Vietnam
Veterans ) so you can present your  statement now.

 I don't think your or my fans will think I saved the best for last.

Paul F. Campbell, Raleigh, NC Sends
 
 
 

JULY 11, 04:48 EDT

 Turner Apologizes for Flawed Report

 By LYNN ELBER
 AP Television Writer

 PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — CNN founder Ted Turner
 issued a fervent apology to U.S. veterans for the cable
 news channel's retracted report about U.S. troops using
 deadly nerve gas in a 1970 Vietnam raid.

 ``If committing mass suicide would help, I've even
 given that some consideration. Nothing has upset me
 more probably in my whole life,'' Turner told a
 Television Critics Association news conference Friday.

 ``I'll take my shirt off and beat myself bloody on the
 back'' with a whip if it would do any good, he said,
 adding: ``I couldn't hurt any more if I was bleeding.''

 He offered his personal apology to veterans and
 anyone who was hurt or offended by the ``NewsStand:
 CNN & Time'' story aired June 7 that claimed U.S.
 troops used nerve gas against Vietnam War deserters
 in Laos.

 CNN on July 2 retracted the story, apologizing to
 viewers and veterans for ``serious faults'' in its
 reporting. Time magazine, which printed a version of
 the story, also formally apologized.

 Turner said he believes the report on Operation
 Tailwind was wrong, though the CNN producers
 responsible for it, Jack Smith and April Oliver, have
 said they stand by it. Both were fired and a third
 producer quit.

 Whether he believed the report was correct or not,
 Turner said, ``we didn't have evidence beyond a
 reasonable doubt.''

 The rush to break an important story and the pressure
 of a competitive media market led to the faulty report,
 he said.

 ``I'm not making any excuses whatsoever,'' he said.
 ``I'm just explaining what happened.''

 Turner said the impact of the retracted story hurt him
 emotionally more than his father's death, his divorces
 or his Atlanta Braves baseball team losing to the New
 York Yankees in the 1996 World Series.

 ``I feel horrible about it. CNN was my baby from the
 very beginning,'' he said. He noted that a poll taken
 before the story and its retraction had named CNN as
 the most respected U.S. news source.

 Now vice chairman of Time Warner, which owns Time
 magazine and CNN, Turner said he plays a ``kind of
 supervisory, consulting role'' for the cable network.

 He vowed that CNN is taking steps to guard against
 such problems, including the creation of an oversight
 panel to review stories. ``I think the majority of
 people will forgive and forget,'' Turner predicted.

 Turner also defended the network's decision to punish
 veteran reporter Peter Arnett with a reprimand, while
 others connected with the report were fired.

 ``His past courageous contributions weighed heavily in
 the decision to spare him from resigning or being
 fired,'' Turner said, citing Arnett's work covering the
 Persian Gulf War for CNN.

 Arnett, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the
 Vietnam War as an Associated Press reporter, has said
 his involvement in the story was limited to interviews
 using pre-arranged questions and narration.