moveon media corps action of the day 9/22/03-RE: SH 911 connection

[proud patriot]

Dear Media Corps member,
After implying for over a year that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, President Bush finally announced on Wednesday that there was no connection. But the same newspapers that helped to convince almost 70% of the public that the connection was real buried the retraction -- and some didn't mention it at all.

Please write a short letter to the editor of one of these newspapers today, and let them know that they're failing the public by burying this news.

You can reach them at:

The New York Times: [email protected]
USA Today: [email protected]
The Houston Chronicle: [email protected]
The San Francisco Chronicle: [email protected]
The Washington Post: [email protected]
Newsday: [email protected]
The New York Daily News: [email protected]
The New York Post: [email protected]
The Wall Street Journal: [email protected]

In making the case for the Iraq war, the Administration repeatedly implied there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Sept. 11, even though they had no evidence. On Wednesday, President Bush for the first time acknowledged that there was "no evidence that Hussein was involved with the September 11th" attacks.

Bush's comments came in the wake of Vice President Cheney's misleading comments the previous Sunday: "If we're successful in Iraq...then we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."

Bush's retraction is major news.

Yet a study by Editor and Publisher, the newspaper industry magazine, found: "Of America's 12 highest-circulation daily papers, only the L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, and Dallas Morning News ran anything about it on the front page. In The New York Times, the story was relegated to page 22. USA Today: page 16. The Houston Chronicle: page 3. The San Francisco Chronicle: page 14. The Washington Post: page 18. Newsday: page 41. The New York Daily News: page 14. The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal didn't mention it at all."

You can read the Editor and Publisher article at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?417

ACTION: Write a brief letter to the editor of one of these major newspapers. Ask them to give as much coverage to Bush's admission that there is no link between Saddam and 9/11 as they gave to earlier suggestions that there was such a link.

According to a recent Washington Post poll, 69% of Americans still believe Hussein was personally involved. Remind them that it is their journalistic duty to correct the public misperception that there is evidence of such a link.

The New York Times: [email protected]
USA Today: [email protected]
The Houston Chronicle: [email protected]
The San Francisco Chronicle: [email protected]
The Washington Post: [email protected]
Newsday: [email protected]
The New York Daily News: [email protected]
The New York Post: [email protected]
The Wall Street Journal: [email protected]

Writing a letter to the editor could take 20 minutes or less. Here are our standard tips for expediting the process:


Your own words, written from the heart, are always best.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

The key to publication is to pounce on something specific you've seen in the newspaper.

Be sure to include your name and address, and especially your phone number when submitting your letter. Editors need to call you to verify authorship before they can print your letter. They don't print your phone number.