LIBEL SUIT/WESTMORELAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000301400011-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: October 8, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-01070R000301400011-0
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
8 October 1984
LIBEL S(.1IT/ BROKAW: Tomorrow in New York, the beginning of what
WESTMORELAND could be called a cosmic trial, retired Gen. William
Westmoreland versus CBS News. The charge is libel, and
it's the biggest libel case ever to come to trial.
Westmoreland is. seeking $120 million in damages. Bob
Jamieson reports tonight, the trial will reopen one of the
most painful episodes in our history.
GEN.\WILLIAM\WESTMORELAND (Sept. 13, 1982): There is no
way left for me to clear my name. JAMIESON: For now
retired Gen. William C. Westmoreland, symbol of America's
military involvement in Vietnam, the trial is a matter of
honor. For Dan Burt, head of a conservative legal
foundation and Westmoreland's 'lawyer, it is a matter of
the accountability of the press. For producer George
*Crile and CBS News, it is a matter of integrity and
reputation. For the public, it is a matter of
credibility, the military command or the media. At issue
is the 90-minute CBS documentary, The Uncounted Enemy: A
Vietnam Deception. It described a period of of'f'icial
optimism about the war, focused in 1967 before the sudden
shock of the 1968 Tet of'f'ensive. MIKE\WALLACE (f'rom
documentary): And tonight, we're gonna present evidence
that we've come to believe was a conscious effort, indeed
a conspiracy at the highest levels of American military
intelligence, to suppress and alter critical intelligence
on the enem' in the year leading up to the Tet _?f'f'ensive.
JAMIESON: The documentary featured many intelligence
officers f'rom' Westmoreland's staf'f'. It charged the
general deliberately put a ceiling on estimates of enemy
troop strength to make the war seem winnable, a strength
lower than his own intelligence officers were reporting.
Westmoreland, whose lawyer has prohibited pre-trial
interviews with the general, denies there was any
deception. There was, he says, a debate over intelligence
estimates between him and the CIA. DAN\BURT (Capital
Legal Foundation): How many could you count, that was the
issue. How many and who should you.
JAMIESON: Burt charges the documentary was simply an
ef'f'ort to get Westmoreland. BURT: I don't think any
institution in this society can exists unless it's
accountable.
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 K Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301400011-0
JAMIESON: Burt claims the documentary ignored key
witnesses favorable to Westmoreland such as Gen. Phillip
Davidson, his intelligence chief' at the time. And Burt
says some of the documentary's editing distorted what
Westmoreland and others said to stack the case against the
general. In part, Burt is supported by CBS's own in-house
investigation, which found serious flaws with parts of the
program. The CBS investigation said that 'a judgmental
conclusion of conspiracy by the documentary was
inappropriate.' GEORGE\CRILE (producer of documentary):
I'm very proud of the broadcast, and I think that we did
something important.
JAMIESON: That put producer George Crile as much in the
center of the controversy as Westmoreland. Crile contends
the flaws don't change the documentary's substance.
CRILE: The witnesses that formed the whole core of the
broadcast are Ger1. Westmoreland's own intelligence
officers.
JAMIESON: The trial beginning here tomorrow is the most
significant test yet of a 20-year-old Supreme Court rule
giving the press and broadcasters wide latitude to
criticize public officials, and constitutional law experts
worry that win or lose, Westmoreland has already
intermediated the press in the name of all public
of'f'icials. Harvard Law School's Lawrence *Tribe.
LAWRENCE\TRIBE (Harvard Law School): I might simply steer
clear of controversial documentaries and reports. The
whole nation would be worse off if that were to occur.
JAMIESON: One positive outcome of this trial may be a new
insight into how we lost the war in Vietnam. More than 80
former military off'icers' and civilian of'f'icials, including
key policymaker?s who have never before spoken publicly
about the war, are scheduled to testify. Bob J;amiescon.
NBC News, New York.
Approved For Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP88-0107OR000301400011-0