The truth matters.
Journalists investigate the assertions by the Bush Administration concerning Saddam Hussein’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction as an excuse for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Most of the administration’s case for that war made absolutely no sense, specifically the notion that Saddam Hussein was allied with Osama bin Laden. That one from the get-go rang all the bells — a secular Arab dictator allied with a radical Islamist whose goal was to overthrow secular dictators and reestablish his Caliphate?
The more we examined it, the more it stank. The second thing was rather than relying entirely on people of high rank with household names as sources, we had sources who were not political appointees. One of the things that has gone very wrong in Washington journalism is ‘source addiction,’ ‘access addiction,’ and the idea that in order to maintain access to people in the White House or vice president’s office or high up in a department, you have to dance to their tune. That’s not what journalism is about.
We had better sources than she (Judith Miller) did and we knew who her sources were. They were political appointees who were making a political case. I first met him (Ahmed Chalabi) in ’95 or ’96. I wouldn’t get dressed in the morning based on what he told me the weather was, let alone go to war. – John Walcott
Knight Ridder Washington reporters Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay received the Raymond Clapper Memorial award from the Senate Press Gallery on February 5, 2004 for their coverage of the questionable intelligence used to justify war with Iraq.
Shock and Awe is a 2017 American drama film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Joey Hartstone. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, James Marsden, Milla Jovovich, and Jessica Biel, and follows a group of journalists at Knight Ridder’s Washington Bureau who investigate the reasons behind the Bush Administration’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. The film had its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival on September 30, 2017 and was released through DirecTV Cinema on June 14, 2018, before having a limited release on July 13, 2018, by Vertical Entertainment.
Shock and Awe (2018)
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Starring: Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Rob Reiner, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Biel, Milla Jovovich, Richard Schiff, Luke Tennie, Terence Rosemore, Margo Moorer, Kate Butler, Bowen Hoover
Screenplay by: Joey Hartstone
Production Design by: Christopher R. DeMuri
Cinematography by: Barry Markowitz
Film Editing by: Bob Joyce
Costume Design by: Dan Moore
Set Decoration by: Les Boothe
Art Direction by: Jaymes Hinkle
Music by: Jeff Beal
MPAA Rating: R for language including some sexual references.
Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment
Release Date: July 13. 2018
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