CBS’ Schieffer: Bush has not linked terrorism to Saddam

Tuesday, April 8, 2003 | 11:28 a.m.

One of the main reasons President Bush has given for the invasion of Iraq is also his weakest reason to date, the moderator of CBS News' "Face the Nation" said Monday in Las Vegas.

Veteran journalist Bob Schieffer said "there is no question we face a very serious threat from terrorism," but there has been little to no evidence presented to substantiate Bush's repeated allegations that Saddam Hussein is linked to terrorist attacks in the United States -- and Bush knows that.

Schieffer, who has known Bush for years, said: "I do think President Bush has a pretty good BS detector, and by BS I don't mean Bob Schieffer."

The 66-year-old Schieffer was in Las Vegas to speak and accept an award at the meeting of the Radio-Television News Directors Association and National Association of Broadcasters.

He also said he hoped the continuous, live coverage made possible by latest technology will ensure the public can stay well-informed about the war.

The "extraordinary" coverage of the Iraq war is a world apart from the way he and other reporters had to cover the war in Vietnam in the 1960s, he said.

Schieffer said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld deserves credit for pushing the military to allow journalists to accompany the troops in Iraq.

The up-close experiences of "embedded" journalists have eased some of the hostilities between the Defense Department and reporters, Schieffer said. But they are also bringing the horror of war home.

"This is not ... basketball," Schieffer said. "This is a war."

Schieffer said he is bothered by the sound effects used by cable and traditional news programs to introduce war stories, however.

"I think it almost violates the first rule of journalism -- you don't have to embellish a story, a good story tells itself," he said. "It almost scares me when the TV set goes 'boom,' and all those graphics."

Schieffer came to Las Vegas to accept the Paul White Award on Monday night. White was the first news director of CBS.

Mark Millage, who introduced Schieffer, said Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff, had high praise for Schieffer, calling him "a journalist, not an entertainer."

In his new book, "This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV," Schieffer reflects on his 40 years in journalism.

"I just wanted to tell some stories that journalists tell each other," Schieffer said. "As I wrote the book, one of the things I came to realize even more is what a great life I've had. I've really had a lot of fun."