Rodgers asks what happened to ‘wise men’
By Kim Chi Ha, contributing writer
Posted on November 6, 2006

Walter Rodgers, a veteran journalist and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs, spoke to an audience of more than 100 students and Harrisonburg residents Wednesday as a part of the institute’s Guardian Lecture Series.

“Great men are not always wise; where are the wise men in this country?” Rodgers said.

Rodgers said that political leaders today are not as learned as they were hundreds of years ago. People do not read enough books, especially in today’s society where it is so easy to rely simply on the Internet and television. 

“What if the leaders of our country aren’t as wise as some of you?” he asked.

Al-Qaeda attempted attacks five times before they finally got it right Sept. 11. The Central Intelligence Agency sent warnings, but policy makers and those higher up in the chain of command failed to listen. 

Rodgers was the senior international correspondent for CNN based in London and worked in Moscow as ABC’s news bureau chief.  He has extensive experience in the Middle East, including covering Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 as an embedded journalist.

“What worries me most is the public’s indifference to what’s happening [in Iraq],” Rodgers said.

A majority of American newspapers bury the stories in between the pages. People do not see the gruesome images from the daily attacks splattered on the front page, he said.

“It was not wise men who got us in there; it was pretty naïve men who knew next to nothing about Islam or about Muslim people,” he said.

Rodgers has more than 30 years of experience as a broadcast journalist.  He has also written for the Associated Press, Washingtonian Magazine, the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor.

His main contention is how the policy-makers have handled this war. It seems as if they have been making up the road map as they go along; there was never any exit strategy, he said.

Students found his speech interesting, even though they didn’t agree with some of his points.

“I thought it was pretty good,” senior Kevin Eichinger said. “He’s got good credibility, but I think there were a lot of things I disagree with. Hindsight is always 20/20.”

Rodgers is currently teaching a semester-long course at JMU entitled War and Journalism. The course, held once a week, is constructed around the theme of “war and the selling thereof” with a focus on how religion has been a driving force in the current conflicts in the Middle East.

“I wish it was more than once a week. I respect what he has to say and where he’s been.  Instead of dazing off, I’m there with him listening and writing down,” senior David Hantman said. “The war on Iraq is such a hot topic, and so many people have different opinions that it’s always interesting to hear someone like him who’s been involved first- hand to hear his opinions.”

“It is naïve for neoconservatives to argue persuasively that the Arab world is going to rise up and embrace democracy,” Rodgers said. “Am I saying Arab democracy doesn’t work?  No. I’m saying show me one.”