Tape Edited by Iraq Raises Questions

The tape of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s exclusive interview with CBS News anchor Dan Rather was edited by the Iraqis before it was returned to the network, an unusual move that raised journalistic questions of whether the Iraqis were able to change portions that they may not have liked.

But Rather said on Tuesday’s “CBS Evening News” that “as far as CBS News can determine, the content of the nearly three-hour interview is intact and was not censored by the Iraqis.”

Rather and executive producer Jim Murphy, the only CBS employees who were present during the highly sought-after interview Monday, closely reviewed the tape after it was returned. “We feel very certain that [the Iraqis] did not delete anything,” said CBS spokeswoman Sandra Genelius.

CBS will air parts of the interview tonight on the “60 Minutes II” newsmagazine. To get the interview, Hussein’s first with an American journalist in a decade, CBS had to agree to conditions that most journalists are wary of.

As is standard practice with Hussein and partly because of security concerns, Iraq supplied the cameras and did the actual taping of the encounter, Rather reported. The Iraqis also supplied the two translators. The Iraqis used three cameras, with three different camera angles, and after the interview took control of the tapes to make an English translation and make copies.

But instead of returning to CBS three tapes of three hours each, the Iraqis gave CBS one tape of about three hours, containing views from the three cameras edited together. After the tape was returned to CBS’ Baghdad office, it was sent by satellite to New York, where CBS supplied its own translation.

The Iraqis held on to the tapes for nearly 24 hours, about 14 hours longer than CBS expected. When ABC’s Peter Jennings interviewed Hussein in 1990, the Iraqis kept the tape for only about six hours and it was returned intact. Because of the delay, CBS was unable to use portions of the interview on Tuesday’s “The Early Show” morning program.

Some media observers questioned whether CBS withheld news from the interview to boost its audience today, the final day of an important ratings period for the network and its affiliated TV stations. CBS initially released only a couple of headlines from the interview, which comes at a time when what Hussein says could potentially change the course of world events.

But Genelius said that without the tape in hand for verification -- CBS didn’t get it in its New York office until about noon Tuesday -- Rather and Murphy had to choose carefully the news that Rather orally reported Monday on CBS News Radio and on the “CBS Evening News.”

Rather, like other journalists, had been pursuing the interview for months, making periodic trips to Baghdad and working through Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz. During a trip to Kuwait last week, Rather, who also interviewed Hussein in 1990, got word that the interview might happen and traveled to Baghdad over the weekend instead of returning home.