Steve Emerson's Investigative Shishkabob

During some of Emerson's fantastic and alarmist speculations, I suspected my neighbor's dog was somehow linked to this global terrorist network with its tentacles reaching all the way to the moons of Mars.

"Few conspiracy theorists can measure up to Steven Emerson," commented a journalist of a national media outlet. This is hardly an honorable distinction but Emerson earned it the old fashioned way: loss of peer respect. Arab and Muslim Americans consider Steven Emerson a deserving heir to Joseph McCarthy, just swap the word Communism with Arab or Islam.

But not unlike paid performers or commercial novelists, Steve Emerson has his loyal audience and readership. He is an entertainer who offers his admirers a product they are interested in. Considering some of his innovative plots, Emerson puts Tom Clancy to shame with his creativity and originality.

Obviously, Emerson introduced a unique style of investigative reporting referred to as Terrorism for Dummies by Dummies, or Media McCarthyism.  Steve sees Islamic patterns in everything as well as bearded and turbaned conspiracies lurking behind every incident.

Unfortunately for Emerson, and fortunately for the American public, his highly speculative style of investigative reporting has progressively damaged his credibility on a number of occasions.

During the Oklahoma City bombing, Emerson was at the forefront blaming Arabs and Muslims. "Oklahoma City, I can tell you, is probably considered one of the largest centers of Islamic radical activity outside the Middle East," he said in a CBS News interview on April 19, 1995. This was frightening news to residents of Oklahoma, including Muslim Oklahomans.

There was little surprise when the Washington Post called Emerson a "pro-Israel researcher and author," in an August 8, 1995 article. If the Klan is an authority on Jewish and African American affairs, Emerson is an objective expert on national security issues. Emerson's analysis reads like a Mossad press release.

Later, after the TWA 800 crash, Reuters news service quoted Emerson as saying he is "confident that a bomb brought down the plane." Emerson went on to say that the crash could be a plot by "the permanent floating (Islamic) militant international."

Emerson's evident bias and shoddy reporting led Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting to reason that "it's this sort of slippery use of evidence that makes people wary of Emerson's reporting." Catching on to Emerson's suspect style, the New York Times Book Review said Emerson's 1991 book "Terrorist" was "marred by factual errors...that betray an unfamiliarity with the Middle East and a pervasive anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias."

Why Emerson attracts media coverage? For the same reason Dr. Ruth Westheimer attracts media attention. There is a niche market out there in sex, lies, and global conspiracies. One US terrorism expert quipped "if there is a National Inquirer to national security studies, Emerson would be at the forefront."

My advice to aspiring Emersonian wannabes, upon hearing of a terrorist incident, dust off your investigative skewers and make your rounds. Don't stop until you hook half a dozen Arab and Muslim states or so, a sprinkling of communist countries, and a slice or two of a US-based terrorist fundraising front group. When done, cook the story in the public opinion pressure cooker while the news is still hot, then serve Emerson style: very spicy. When asked about the recipe, swear it's so complex and secretive not even you can remember it.

Oh, and by the way, don't forget to throw in the "not all Muslims or Arabs are bad" after you drop a poison pill in the pot.