CONTACT:
- Carolyn Long, Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, 360/546/9737, long@vancouver.wsu.edu
- Lori Brockman-Torres, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360/546-9601, brockman@vancouver.wsu.edu
- Sheri Byrd, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360/546-9602, byrds@vancouver.wsu.edu
Vancouver, Wash. - Seymour Hersh, the investigative reporter from the "New Yorker" whose stunning reports on prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib made headlines around the world, will be available to speak with press in the lobby of the Engineering and Life Science Building on the campus of Washington State University Vancouver, 3 to 4 p.m. April 4.
Hersh will speak to the community later that evening at Skyview High School at 7:30 p.m. He will confront the essential questions facing America in his presentation titled: "Chain of Command: How We Got from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib."
Hersh, one of America's premier investigative reporters, will address several questions: How did we get from the clear morning when hijackers crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to a divisive and dirty war in Iraq? And who was ultimately responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib?
Hours after the 9/11 attacks, "New Yorker" editor David Remnick told Hersh by phone to get on the story and take it as far as he could. What emerged is, in many ways, an alternative history of the last three years: one in which Saudi princes are caught in intercepts discussing bribes and the payment of what amounts to protection money to fundamentalists; an intelligence shop in the Pentagon "stovepipes" shoddy information directly to decision makers; and hawks in and around the White House deceive themselves as much as the public in their drive to war.
The presentation is the keynote for the Annual Public Affairs Distinguished Lecture series, sponsored by the Associated Students of 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø, the Washington State University Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service, and The Columbian newspaper (official media sponsor). Additional funding and support was provided by the 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø Office of the Chancellor. Tickets for the event cost $10 plus a one dollar service fee. To purchase, call 1-800-992-TIXX, or purchase online at . Skyview High School is located at 1300 NW 139th St., Vancouver.
For more information, visit .
91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205. Parking is available in the blue lot for $2 or at parking meters. 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø offers 14 Bachelor's degrees, nine Master's degrees and one Doctorate degree and more than 35 fields of study. Visit us on the Web at
NOTE TO MEDIA: Please RSVP for this event. Parking passes can be e-mailed.
Photo: Seymour Hersh. Click thumbnail for high resolution image.