Helen, the brave journalist

Author, journalist and columnist, Helen Thomas (92) was a brave lady, who had the distinction of covering White House presidential press conferences from J.F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Her death has been mourned by millions who really appreciated her brave and straightforward approach in grilling past presidents. She once asked George W. Bush: “I would like to ask you president about your decision to invade Iraq… Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? You have said it wasn’t oil, it hasn’t been Israel, or anything else what was it?” On hearing the rumor that Dick Cheney is going to run for president she said: “The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I’ll kill myself. All we need is another liar…. I think he’d like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does. On Feb. 9, 2009, Helen Thomas was present in the front row for newly elected President Obama’s first news conference. President Obama called on her with the statement: “Helen I’m excited. This is my inaugural moment.” She asked if any Middle Eastern country possessed nuclear weapons. Obama replied that he didn’t want to “speculate” on the matter. She stirred up the pro-Israeli press in the US, when asked for her comments on Israel, by replying, “Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine. When asked where Israeli Jews should go, she replied they could “go home to Poland or Germany or America and everywhere else. Why push people out of their own home, who have lived there for centuries?” — S.H. Moulana, Riyadh