Couric did not challenge Petraeus' assertion that violence in Iraq has fallen “dramatically”

Written by Ben Armbruster

Published

Katie Couric did not challenge Gen. David Petraeus' assertion during an interview that “if you look at the country as a whole ... the number of ethno-sectarian deaths, you name it, the number of incidents has been reduced dramatically” in Iraq. Couric failed to note the conclusion reached by a recent progress report by the Government Accountability Office on Iraqi benchmarks that "[i]t is unclear whether sectarian violence in Iraq has decreased;" the report also stated that “the average number of daily attacks against civilians remained about the same over the last six months.”


During a report containing an interview with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces in Iraq, that aired on the September 4 CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric did not challenge Petraeus' assertion that “if you look at the country as a whole ... the number of ethnosectarian deaths, you name it, the number of incidents has been reduced dramatically.” Neither in the interview, nor in her overall report, did Couric note the conclusion reached by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its recent progress report on Iraqi benchmarks -- which Couric referred to at the outset of the broadcast -- that "[i]t is unclear whether sectarian violence in Iraq has decreased." The report also stated that “the average number of daily attacks against civilians remained about the same over the last six months [February to July 2007].”

As Media Matters for America noted, at a September 4 Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) claimed that the GAO accounted for data only through July and added that Petraeus recently provided him data for August showing a reduction in violence in Iraq. Asked to reconcile his agency's findings with Petraeus' view, Comptroller General David M. Walker said that the GAO “asked [the military] for, but did not receive, the information through the end of August,” and that even though the military “were unable to give us the data through August” “we obtained their views for where the situation was through as of August 30th.” Walker added that “there are several different sources within the administration on violence, and those sources do not agree.” He added that “part of the problem that [the GAO] had in reaching a conclusion about sectarian violence is there are multiple sources showing different levels of violence with different trends.”

At the beginning of the September 4 broadcast, Couric noted that "[a] congressional report out today says violence in Iraq remains high and the Iraqi government has failed to meet 11 of 18 benchmarks." Indeed, the supplemental war funding bill that Congress passed on May 24 and President Bush signed on May 25 -- the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007 -- requires an “independent assessment” of the Iraqi benchmarks by the Comptroller General, who heads the GAO, "[n]ot later than September 1, 2007."

From the September 4 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

COURIC: It's early Wednesday morning here in the Iraqi capital as we begin four days of special broadcasts on one of the most critical issues facing our country today -- the war. A congressional report out today says violence in Iraq remains high and the Iraqi government has failed to meet 11 of 18 benchmarks. An even more critical report comes in a week on the progress of the surge.

[...]

COURIC: Our visit involved extensive security afforded any four-star general, but General Petraeus insisted you can feel when a place is dangerous.

PETRAEUS: Let's go. You know, come on. Look at all the good stuff in here.

COURIC: And he believes this one is not.

COURIC: Some people might be watching this and saying, “Oh, this is a nice dog and pony show. Yeah, there are some areas of calm. But if you look at the country as a whole, it's still a nightmare.”

PETRAEUS: Well, if you look at the country as a whole, there is an unacceptable level of violence, but that level of violence, the number of ethno-sectarian deaths, you name it, the number of incidents --

COURIC: Sunni-Shia killing, Shia-Sunni --

PETRAEUS: -- has been reduced dramatically. That is not to say that there are not places where it is very, very tough. The question is, which way is it headed? And I think it's headed up.

COURIC: Headed up enough to start reducing U.S. troop levels in Iraq? Yesterday, while talking to servicemen and women in Anbar Province, President Bush raised the possibility. When I sat down with General Petraeus following our tour, he left the door open.

COURIC: As you know, Senator John Warner [VA], a very high-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, after a visit to Iraq, said some troops must begin to come home by Christmas. Do you agree with that?

PETRAEUS: Well, wait and see when I offer recommendations. I'll brief Congress on that in about a week and a half. The surge has to run its course. There's no question about that. The question is, how can you make adjustments to the force, bring the force levels down, and retain what we have fought so hard to achieve?