 |
|
|
|||||
One of the most distinguished social and political commentators in America, David Halberstam won a Pulitzer Prize at age 30 for his prophetic reporting in the early days of the Vietnam War. Reflecting his tenure as a major analyst on the American scene, 38 years later his bestseller, War in a Time of Peace, was a runner-up for the Pulitzer. The New York Times called it "a tour de force....likely to stand as the definitive record of the American use of armed force in the decade of the 90's."Perhaps no other writer has so faithfully chronicled the profound changes in America in the second half of the 20th Century and the challenges of the 21st Century. His books, he says, “are about society, history and culture.” His classic, The Best and The Brightest, is the definitive book on how and why we went to war in Vietnam. What follows is the facts regarding David Halberstam's fatal car crash, as reported by nsnews on May 5, 2007 04:30 AM. Jones had volunteered to drive Halberstam, 73, to an interview with Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Y.A.
A 1996 Infiniti Q30 driven by Lewis Morris, 64, of San Jose, broadsided the 1989 Toyota Camry as its driver, journalism student Kevin Jones, made a left turn at a busy intersection in Menlo Park, police said. Morris told the San Francisco Chronicle that he had the right of way in the three-car collision on April 23, 2007. "I could not slow down," Morris said. "I didn't have enough room to slow down." Lewis Morris is evidently not responsible for this accident. According to Harold Schappelhouman, chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, the car was apparently struck at a high rate of speed by a green late- model Infiniti, with Halberstam's side of the car bearing the brunt of the hit. Jones was making a left-hand turn at the intersection of Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road when his car was broadsided. The impact of the crash forced the two cars into a third vehicle. Jones' lawyer, Berkeley attorney Laurel Headley has refused comment until police conclude their investigation. Now there are just two possibilities here. Either Jones failed to avoid a totally unecessary accident, or he deliberately drove into oncoming traffic because he wanted to get away with the murder of David Halberstam. Now let us assume the simplest explanation. Jones absenmindedly caused an unecessary accident. If that is true, why hasn't he publicly apologized for causing the accident that killed David Halberstam? This is not a simple accident. David Halberstam was placed in a position of certain death, and all it takes is a simple observance of traffic law, to avoid this one. This is not a simple accident. It is an unecessary one. The fire chief, who assisted at the scene, said the force of the crash caused a 2-foot indentation on Halberstam's side of the car, pinning his legs. As firefighters tried to free him, the car's engine began to smoke, then caught fire. Rescuers extricated Halberstam, who was wearing a seat belt, then tried to rescusitate him, but they could not find a pulse, Schappelhouman said. Jones was able to exit the driver's side of the car, the chief said. It doesn't doesn't take very much to drive into oncoming traffic and to expose any passenger to certain death, and the question that needs to be answered is very simple. Does Mr. Jones understand the difference betwen a license to drive and a license to kill? One final note: Real journalism students use the media to spread the word, they do not hide behind lawyers. Jones thinks he can control this case through criminal defence attorney, Laurel Headley. According to Headley, the key, is to take control of the case away from police and prosecutors. “When you get as much information as you can about a case upfront, it helps you understand where you want the case to go. Then you can take the bull by the horns and get there, rather than letting the system take you for a ride." That's not the key. The key is to expose the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and the media is supposed to be the very best outlet for that. What is Mr. Jones trying to hide? If Mr. Jones is trying to hide his intent, the consequenses of his foolish actions make absolute sense. In the absence of a reasonable explanation, this is simply a case of cold blooded murder.
Halberstam is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards and 20 honorary degrees.
He appeared often on Face the Nation, Nightline and Charlie Rose. Harper's magazine called him “a legend in American journalism.” Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, said of him, “The best war reporter of his generation, Halberstam has become one of the great synthesizers of modern American history." He will be greatly missed by many. "Time-warp patriots" who target Liberal Icons like David Halberstam think that terrorism is a political tool. For example, Fidel Castro has been a target of assassins for over 40 years, and unfortunately, the terrorists who target their enemies are not retired until law enforcement puts them out of their misery. Anti-Castro militant, Luis Posada Carriles was sentenced to eight years in jail in Panama for a plot in 2000 (no misprint, not talking about the 1960's) to assassinate Fidel Castro. Posada is also responsible for downing a Cuban airlines jet off Barbados killing all 73 people on board. He is also responsible for a 1997 Havana hotel bombing which killed an Italian tourist. Posada is currently walking the streets in Florida, thumbing his nose at the authorities and as long as terrorists like Luis Posada are allowed to walk the streets, the deaths of targets like David Halberstam are not an accident. Jean Halberstam said that at the time of her husband's, he was planning to do a book on Ahmed Chalabi, the controversial Iraqi official who was a leader in the push for overthrowing Saddam Hussein. The potential title: "Our Man In Iraq." In 1968, Halberstam said that the Vietnam war was over/lost but the authorities were not listening. David Halberstam was positioned to prove that the Iraq war is over/lost but the authorities do not want to listen. The simple fact of the matter is that the war in Iraq has been lost because "our man" is as popular in Iraq as Luis Posada is in Cuba. Time warp patriots do not get it. They still think they lost the Vietnam war because of people like David Halberstam and it is time to send them all to Iraq, to grant them the opportunity to live in the world they have created. The attorney for David Halberstam's family believes that the student who was driving the car in which the famed author was killed acted negligently and recklessly. "It is clear he acted negligently and it is clear he acted recklessly." According to Halberstam's attorney, "I know a good deal of what happened." Based on witnesses, he believes that Jones ran a red light and made an illegal left turn in front of a car that hit his car in the passenger side, killing Halberstam instantly. How can you possibly avoid killing somebody, under those circumstances? The University of California, Berkeley, which supplied the driver, Kevin Jones, a graduate student, said Jones had two previous serious accidents, including one that was his fault. The driver who hit the vehicle carrying David Halberstam claims he had the green light in the crash that killed the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Indeed, an investigation showed that Jones made an illegal left turn into the path of a car that had a green light when it smashed into the passenger side of the car where Halberstam was riding, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. “We decided to file misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charges because the conduct that was involved here involved going through a red light, and not a light turning from yellow to red," Wagstaffe said. “He turned into the oncoming traffic, and that's why the (other) car crushed the side of the car with Mr. Halberstam.” Not an accident and not a mistake... sounds like negligence that is so extreme it is difficult to call it unintentional.
|
Comments - Questions? -
