To the Point

The Military and the Media

Sixteen civilians were on a routine outing aboard the USS Greeneville when the sub struck a Japanese commercial fishing craft directly above them. Nine Japanese, four of them teenagers, are presumed dead. Even more perplexing than how the crash could have happened is why it took five days to learn that two civilians were at the controls during the tragic accident. We get some insight from the news editor for an independent newspaper that covers the Navy, a former undersecretary of defense, and a professor whose expertise combines international relations and journalism. (Fox Sports Network's investigative journalist Diana Nyad guest hosts.) Newsmaker (national): US Air Strikes Against Iraq - Today, as President Bush meets with Mexico's President Fox, US and British planes bombed Iraqi command facilities and radar stations. Peter Grier, of The Christian Science Monitor, updates us on the developing situation, and suggests that the attack may have been brewing during the earliest stages of the Bush administration. Newsmaker (local broadcast only): Iraqi Update - The US has begun to release information about today's US and British air strikes against Iraqi military targets. Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, updates us . Reporter's Notebook: When George W. Bush 'Dubs Ya' - Comedian, satirist, and author of Saturday Night Live fame, Al Franken brings us some laughs as he takes off on President Bush's habit of nicknaming his colleagues. Expressing pity for satirists who miss Bill Clinton, he finds George W's penchant for nicknames "a writer's dream."