Government goons force Goddard to recant

[nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)]

Time to add a new horseman: "conspiracy theory-spreading libertarians"

...



   CNN logo
   [ISMAP]-Navigation
   Infoseek/Big Yellow
   Pathfinder/Warner Bros
   Barnes and Noble
   Main banner Weird guy. Cool phone. Click here.
   
                                    rule
                                      
                    TWA missile theory co-author apologizes
                                       
     Salinger
     
  Says report was 'reckless'
  
     From Correspondent Christine Negroni
     
     November 5, 1997
     Web posted at: 2:05 p.m. EST (1905 GMT)
     
     NEW YORK (CNN) -- Ian Goddard, co-author of a report that claimed
     the U.S. Navy shot down TWA Flight 800, has told CNN that those
     charges were "reckless and a mistake."
     
     In a written statement to CNN, Goddard apologized to "all those in
     the Navy I have wrongfully accused" and to "those who believed in
     my efforts and who are now upset with me for my change of mind."
     
     Goddard co-authored the report with former ABC news reporter Pierre
     Salinger and a third man, Mike Sommers.
     
     Ian Goddard's statement to CNN:
     "While many witness accounts remain a mystery to me, I believe that
     my effort to pin the crash of TWA 800 on the Navy was reckless and
     a mistake. I apologize to all those in the Navy I have wrongfully
     accused. I also apologize to those who believed in my efforts and
     who are now upset with me for my change of mind. "We all need to
     put our support behind the families of the victims of TWA 800. Many
     who died left children behind who now need your support... Please
     give."
     
     National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Goelz, on
     learning of the Goddard apology, said that Goddard had done real
     damage, particularly to the victims' families, by promoting charges
     that the Navy's "friendly fire" caused the July 1996 crash.
     
     "He has caused innumerable people great agony," Goelz said, adding
     that both the FBI and the NTSB had to spend time responding to what
     were basically groundless accusations.
     
     Joe Lychner of Houston, who lost his wife and two daughters in the
     crash, told CNN that Goddard and Salinger owe an explanation to the
     American public.
     
     The so-called Salinger report laid out an elaborate conspiracy
     theory that alleged a huge government cover-up following the TWA
     crash. Goddard had kept the theory alive on a Web site he created,
     which now appears to have been discontinued.
     
  "I just wanted to give the government a black eye by any means that looked
  opportune. TWA 800 was just a vehicle for my larger agenda."
  
    — Ian Goddard
    
     Goddard has recently E-mailed associates about his report. In those
     messages, Goddard called his support of the conspiracy theory "a
     big mistake," and said he only pursued the charges because he
     "wanted to give the government a black eye by any means that looked
     opportune."
     
     Goddard says he wanted to promote libertarian ideology by
     encouraging distrust of the government.
     
     CNN's Christine Negroni reports on the admission:
     icon 2 min. 30 sec. VXtreme video
     
     When contacted by CNN about Goddard's statement, Salinger said that
     he is moving on from his investigation into the TWA crash, although
     he did not retract any of his charges that a Navy missile brought
     down the 747. Salinger called FBI Deputy Director James Kallstrom
     last week and told him that he was giving up his probe.
     
     In his statement to CNN, Goddard asked that the public support the
     families of the victims of TWA 800 and that donations be made to
     the Flight 800 Family Relief Fund.
     
     TWA Flight 800 crashed off Long Island, killing all 230 people on
     board. The FBI and NTSB have not yet named an official cause of the
     accident.
       ______________________________________________________________
     
                                      
                      � 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
                            All Rights Reserved.