Oh, boy -- NBC News's Brian Williams has really gotten himself in deep. Over the last 10 years, the veteran journalist and news anchor has been telling a story about how he was on board a chopper that was brought down by a grenade at the beginning of the war in Iraq. After a recent NBC Nightly News segment featured the story again, those aboard the chopper that went down spoke up, insisting that Williams was never with them -- in fact, he arrived an hour after their crash, asking for details on what had happened. The anchor had apologized for perpetuating the false story of an RPG-related crash, so will he be fired?
Finally, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, the veteran newsman admitted that he somehow confused the truth with reality and went back to his own notes from 2003 to figure out what really happened. He issued a full apology and tried to explain how he was not intentionally lying about his experience.
"I feel terrible about making this mistake, especially since I found my own writing about the incident from back in '08, and I was indeed on the Chinook behind the bird that took the RPG in the tail housing just above the ramp. Because I have no desire to fictionalize my experience -- we all saw it happen the first time -- and no need to dramatize events as they actually happened, I think the constant viewing of the video showing us inspecting the impact area -- and the fog of memory over 12 years -- made me conflate the two, and I apologize," he said.
"I honestly don't remember which of the three choppers Gen. [Wayne] Downing and I slept in, but we spent two nights on the stowable web bench seats in one of the three birds. Later in the invasion when Gen. Downing and I reached Baghdad, I remember searching the parade grounds for Tim's Bradley to no avail. Nobody's trying to steal anyone's valor. Quite the contrary: I was and remain a civilian journalist covering the stories of those who volunteered for duty," continued Williams.
How exactly do you forget whether or not you were in a chopper that was hit with a grenade in a war? Is that even possible, and if so, then what else might Williams simply have forgotten? How does this situation make his credibility look to you guys? Will you trust his reporting now or instead question whether or not he is embellishing things? Is NBC going to need to do some serious damage control here, and if so, what would it do, fire Williams?
Readers, tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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