by Daniel Chaitin | Apr 16, 2017

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called attention Sunday to what he suggested was a convenient change of narrative for President Trump after he launched an missile strike against the Assad regime.

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During an interview on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” Rather and host Brian Stelter talked about the difficulty journalists face in staying unbiased when reporting on U.S. military action. The discussion turned to Syria, among other recent points of conflict, which seemed to ensnare the headlines away from the questions about Trump’s ties to Russia.

“I want to make very clear, these actions by President Trump may or may not have been necessary,” Rather said. “They may or may not have had any other motivation. One effect that they had, intended or not, was to change the conversation.”

“The conversation was all about what did Donald Trump know and when did he know it about Russia influence on the election,” Rather noted. “The second the missiles were launched on Syria, the narrative changed to his advantage.”

He then added: “Now I don’t think that was his intention but it was an effect of it.”

Rather advised that journalists need to pull back and ask themselves what “rallying behind the flag” really means. He referred to a prevailing criticism dating back to the Iraq War, when he said many journalists, including himself, could have done a better job reporting in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.