Editing Operation Tailwind (section)

== ''Valley of Death'' ==
In 1998 [[Cable News Network]] (CNN) launched ''NewsStand CNN & Time'', a collaboration with [[Time magazine]] on reporting to be both broadcast and published in print form. On 7 June 1998 a report about Operation Tailwind, entitled ''Valley of Death'', was broadcast as the premiere episode of the new program.

The segment analyzed and criticized Operation Tailwind. It alleged that US aircraft, in an unprecedented reversal of policy and breach of international treaties, had used [[sarin]] ("GB" in US/NATO nomenclature) against North Vietnamese ground troops who were attacking the landing zones during the extraction of the forces. The Pentagon did not dispute that some chemical agent was used, nor that both North Vietnamese and American soldiers struggled against its effects. However, most witnesses, sworn and unsworn, said that only a potent tear gas (most likely a [[Phenacyl chloride|CN]]/[[CS gas|CS]] mixture) was used. According to reporting, others insisted it was sarin, or a combination of tear gas and sarin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1678|title=DoD News Briefing, Operation TAILWIND, Tuesday, July 21, 1998|publisher=[[DefenseLink]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002062807/http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1678|archive-date=2 October 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=9 May 2007}}</ref>

A second element of the reporting was an allegation that Operation Tailwind had been devised to eliminate a group of Americans who had defected to the enemy and were holed up in a Laotian village. According to the report, the nerve agent had been sprayed from aircraft twice: once to prep the village and once during extraction of troops. The report claimed that more than 100 Laotian men, women, and children had been killed during the attack on the village and 2 American defectors were also killed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Churchill |first1=Ward |title=On the Justice of Roosting Chickens |publisher=AK Press |page=240}}</ref> 

The broadcast (and the published ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article of June 15) appeared to be reliably sourced. Admiral [[Thomas Moorer]], chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] at the time of Tailwind, appeared to say that nerve agents had been used, and not just during this operation. However, Admiral Moorer later told investigators that he "never confirmed anything" to CNN regarding Operation Tailwind, that he had no knowledge of the use of sarin or the targeting of defectors, and he believed that producer April Oliver had asked him "trick" questions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9807/21/pentagon.tailwind.report/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807130621/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9807/21/pentagon.tailwind.report/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 7, 2013|title=Department of Defense review of allegations concerning "Operation Tailwind"|date=21 July 1998|website=[[CNN]]|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]|access-date=22 September 2017}}</ref> But later again, in sworn deposition testimony taken during the suit of one of the producers, Admiral Moorer reviewed April Oliver's notes of her interviews of him, including his responses to her questions. He did not make any significant objections to their accuracy.<ref>[http://www.aim.org/pdf/Hall-CIA/83-6.pdf Admiral Moorer Deposition, Retrieved November 14, 2013.]</ref>

Former SOG Lieutenant Robert Van Buskirk (one of the three platoon leaders) and three of the participating SOG sergeants allegedly gave information that supported the allegations as presented in the televised and published investigative report. Van Buskirk said that the Montagnard [[Hatchet Force]] was exposed on the landing zone ("LZ") when the [[teargas]] agent was deployed to drive the enemy back. He also said that he saw his men (who were not equipped with gas masks) convulsing when the wind blew the agent back upon the LZ.

The CNN/Time reports suggested that [[war crimes]] had been committed. [[The Pentagon]] launched its own investigation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/02/tailwind.findings/index.html|title=CNN - Report on CNN Broadcast - July 2, 1998|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=2016-04-18}}</ref> Another piece of evidence for the usage of sarin came from the fact that at least one American involved in the operation suffered from a degenerative neurological disorder caused by exposure to nerve gas.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Churchill |first1=Ward |title=On the Justice of Roosting Chickens |publisher=AK Press |page=240}}</ref> 

=== Aftermath ===
CNN and ''Time'' magazine undertook an internal investigation. New York attorney [[Floyd Abrams]], a constitutional lawyer, was hired to conduct the investigation for them. They jointly concluded that the journalism of the report was "flawed," and the report should be publicly retracted, with apologies made to persons and institutions cited in it. The two key CNN producers of the report, April Oliver and Jack Smith, were fired outright when they refused to resign. Senior producer Pam Hill of CNN resigned. Reporter [[Peter Arnett]] was reprimanded and soon resigned, going to work for [[HDNet]] and then [[NBC]].

Abrams later said that he had urged CNN/Time Warner to retract the report, but to acknowledge that it may have had truth to it. He said, retraction "doesn't necessarily mean that the story isn't true. … Who knows? Someday we might find other information. And, you know, maybe someday I'll be back here again, having done another report saying that, 'You know what? It was all true.'"<ref>Phillips, Peter M, editor. ''Censored 1999: The News That Didn't Make the News'' (Seven Stories Press, 1999), p. 28.</ref>

In early July 1998, [[Tom Johnson (journalist)|Tom Johnson]], CNN News Group Chairman, President and CEO, issued a statement about the findings of the internal investigation. He pledged acceptance of the findings and reiterated that the allegations in ''Valley of Death'' and related reports "cannot be supported." He said there was insufficient evidence that sarin or any other deadly gas was used, nor could CNN confirm that American deserters were targeted, or whether they were at the camp in Laos.

As a supplement to CNN's retraction, on July 2 and July 5, 1998, the company aired retraction broadcasts that sought to portray some of the sources for the Tailwind reports as unreliable.<ref>CNN ''Talkback Live'' on July 2, 1998 and ''Newstand: CNN & Time'' on July 5, 1998.</ref>

Oliver and Smith were chastised but unrepentant. They put together a 77-page document supporting their side of the story; it included testimony from military personnel apparently confirming the use of sarin.<ref name="Rebuttal to the Abrams/Kohler Report">[http://www.freedomforum.org/publications/tailwind/tailwind.pdf “TAILWIND” Rebuttal to the Abrams/Kohler Report Oliver, Smith (July 22, 1998).]</ref> Active and retired military personnel consulted by the media, including CNN's own military analyst, [[USAF]] Major General [[Perry Smith (Major General)|Perry Smith]] (ret), noted that a particularly strong, non-lethal formulation of "CS" [[CS gas|teargas]] was used during ''Tailwind.'' But they said that it should not be confused with sarin, which is categorized as a [[weapon of mass destruction]] by the [[United Nations]].<ref>Smith, Perry. [http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3344 "The Lessons of Tailwind: CNN’s former military adviser sifts through the wreckage of the ill-fated 'Valley of Death' report"], ''[[American Journalism Review]]'' (Dec. 1998).</ref>

Several individuals who were sources for the reports, whose images were shown in the reports, or who were otherwise identified with the reports, brought other legal actions against CNN and Time Warner.  These actions were combined by the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation and were assigned to the United States District Court in the Northern District of California. They became collectively known as the "Operation Tailwind" litigation.<ref>In re Cable News Network and Time Magazine "Operation Tailwind" Litigation, 106 F. Supp. 2d 1000 (2000) http://www.leagle.com/decision?q=20001106106FSupp2d1000_1999.xml/IN%20RE%20CABLE%20NEWS%20NETWORK retrieved November 16, 2013.</ref>

CNN and Time Warner defended its reports from claims of [[defamation]], and most of these actions were dismissed by the court.<ref>''In re Cable News Network and Time Magazine "Operation Tailwind" Litigation,'' 106 F. Supp. 2d 1000 (2000) http://www.leagle.com/decision?q=20001106106FSupp2d1000_1999.xml/IN%20RE%20CABLE%20NEWS%20NETWORK, retrieved November 16, 2013; September 21, 2006 Judgment of the United District Court for the Northern District of California San Jose Division, in Case No. C 99-20137 JF (RS), Lead Case No. C 98-20946 JF RS MDL Case No. 1257.</ref> In none of these cases did the court find that the original Tailwind reports had defamed anyone.

A decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in one of the cases states that the Tailwind reports did not defame the plaintiff who was a source for the reports. It noted that the plaintiff, in his interviews with CNN, "admitted the truth of each of the three facts he now challenges."<ref name=":0">284 F.3d 977, page 4571-4572.</ref>  The Ninth Circuit said that CNN may have subsequently defamed this source in its retraction broadcast's statement seeking to portray the source as "unreliable". The court concluded that the question of whether the source was defamed by CNN in that retraction broadcast "merits further development", and the appeals court remanded "this issue to the district court for further proceedings."<ref>284 F.3d 977, page 4575-4578.</ref>

=== In popular culture ===
The [[HBO]] series [[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)|''The Newsroom'']] featured a major storyline in its second season that explored the fictional ACN's coverage of "Operation Genoa". This was loosely based on CNN's coverage of Tailwind.<ref name="fetters">{{cite web|author=Ashley Fetters|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/08/the-news-vs-i-the-newsroom-i-was-there-a-real-genoa-report-yes-in-1998/278795/|title=The News vs. The Newsroom: Was There a Real 'Genoa' Report? Yes—in 1998|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=18 August 2013 |access-date=2013-08-26|author-link=Ashley Fetters}}</ref>