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of Smearing a Canadian Gay Journalist Angered by His ABC Report on Plummeting Iraq Troop Morale Bush's Communication Department is Exposed by Matt Drudge
Kofman's report included comments from soldiers in the Second Brigade, Third Infantry Division who were stationed in Fallujah. They were unhappy about the White House's decision to delay their return to the United States, their third postponement. "Pretty much makes me lose faith in the army. I mean, I don't really believe anything they tell me," said one soldier. Another suggested that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld needs to resign. General John Abizaid, who heads the U.S. Central Command, told ABC News that the soldiers who had spoken out would be pointedly punished. "None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the Secretary of Defense or the President of the United States," he said. The soldiers' careers may be at an end, according news reports. Right wing pundits have been using the controversy surrounding the mainstream outing of the Canadian gay journalist to defend the White House and, simultaneously, to disparage the contributions of gays/ Canadians, indicating that neither category can be trusted with reporting the news. "When you take a job in the United States in the public eye, that goes with the territory," Mr. Kofman told the Toronto Globe from Baghdad's ABC News Bureau, "My darkest secret has been revealed," he laughed. Mr. Kofman was gracious with regard to the White House's denial. He said: "I'm going to take the White House at face value and accept the comments that they made, which is that this is the first that they've heard of it and if it did happen then it was totally inappropriate." Being a disloyal because he's Canadian, doesn't worry him either. "I think people look at all the Canadians at the three networks and scratch their heads at times and say, 'What is it about you Canadians?…I think what it is, is that the CBC is a terrific news organization, and we all got terrific training, so we had this incredible leg up." Mr. Kofman worked with the Canadian Broadcasting Company for 11 years before moving to CBS News in 1997 and then to ABC. Other ABC journalists from Canada include Gillian Findlay and Peter Jennings. |
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ABC reporter Jeffrey Kofman