I wasn’t willing to at first but I echo some of the sentiments expressed over the 65,000 number given as Iraqi death toll. Hear we are praising Ann Curry for her courage to interview a man overlooking / perhaps even responsible for mass genocide when our own government has a Dufar-like situation on its hands. You should be interviewing Bush with the same tenacity and distrust you do the leader of Sudan. The report from Hirsh of the New Yorker suggesting that the US is FUNDING Sunnis in their fight against the Shia virtually equates directly to the want ant killing of civilians. It may not sell commercials for people to hear that… I’m personally not sure they (the American people) would even care.

"...my wife and I paused frequently during our family getaway last week to count our many blessings."

Brian, its called praying and its ok if journalists do it and even if they want to admit it...whatever their faith.

God comes before ratings...in spite of what GE may have told you ;)

Best regards,
-Peter

Dear Brian, It is good to know you are back safe and sound! My husband and I watch your newscast every night. We had planned to fly to Nashville for a tradeshow on March 17th. Well it never happened because the Philadelphia Airport was a mess! We knew that the ice storm had flights backed up and cancelled and my husband called and an agent said our flight was on, we checked our luggage curbside and went inside only to discover our flight had been cancelled. He stood in a baggage claim line up and I stood in line to rebook or cancel our flight. We spent six hours in one line up only to discover it did no good! We were handed a peice of paper with a number (that no one could get through to!) and could not collect our luggage because it was being trucked to Nashville! We met a lot of nice folks in line. People who had been in lineups for 24 hours while we only stood in line for six. It got me thinking.... Imagine how annoyed we all were when one flight messed us up and I thought to myself this is nothing compared to Katrina! People grumbled because they lost some luggage and their schedules were messed up. Katrina survivors lost more than a few hours and a peice of luggage. They lost everything and they still have nothing. It really hit me while I stood in line! We have nothing to complain about in this country other than lack of customer service! We all have a place to live, we have jobs, families, health if we are lucky and we have electricity, running water, we can go to the grocery store 24 hours a day if we choose to. I remember that every night while I watch the news and NBC shows us so many people who suffer. My husband and I sit on our couch eating dinner with our heated turned up and we really do have it so good.

Welcome back Brian, I look forward everynight to watching your news cast. I do believe that you are a man of great honesty and sincerity, and I really like the way that you talk of your family.

Welcome back! I second what Lynn G says about surgery...

Dear Mr. Williams.
I'm thrilled that you and Richard Engel are back safely. Even though, Campbell Brown did an excellent job while you were away, I'm glad that you are back.

It’s hard to believe that it has already been four years since the war in Iraq began. It is truly astonishing how a few hours on 911 have completely changed our world for the worse.

I agree with your sentiment on how many, not all, of us civilians are removed from the war to some degree. I think if were more involved, we would be more appreciative on all that we have in this country. We should always remember the sacrifices the military and their loved ones have made.

Please tell Mr. Tom Aspell and Jane Arraf to be very careful and that all of them are in my thoughts and prayers.

I loved Ann curry’s interview and look forward to seeing more of it.

As for the surgery you mentioned earlier, you don’t need it. You are perfect the way you are.

At the beginning before the Iraq war was launched you and others in the mass media repeated, without double checking, the nonsense put out by the Bush government that justified the invasion. The pattern of deception established then by the Bush Government and repeated without double checking by you and others in the mass media continues today.

The Today Show and The NBC Nightly News stated without attribution that 60,000 Iraqis have died since the invasion. On the other hand two scientific studies conducted over a several year period have determined that more than 600,000 Iraqis have died. Both studies have been verified by Scientific American.

The News Hour on PBS,on the other hand, gave a range of 57,000 to 655,000 Iraqi dead.

I stopped watching CBS News because of it's understated jingoism. Tonight your newscasts have also stepped over my line of tolerance.

Informing the American people, as is your right and duty under the United States Constitution has now taken a back seat to your need to pander for profits to your General Electric masters. GE grows in wealth as the war drags on and you treat the American people like mushrooms.....keep them in the dark and pile on the bovine manure. Thanks but no thanks.

Great to have you back Brian! You were missed for sure.

You are the reason I stay tuned to NBC news during the week, rushing home from the gym so I can enjoy it and eat dinner.

Glad you had a good rest with your family.

And I do echo the sentiments about Richard Engel. I am a huge, huge fan. Would love to see him here always, but I think / suspect he enjoys covering Iraq and he wouldn't be as happy in the states fulltime. Please send him my best wishes. He has a huge fan in me!

Brian, Rob and others. When you go High Def remember those of us with the old-fashion TV sets.

I have a hard time watching Saturday Night Live Weekend updates because the graphics are missing or cut in half. The audience may be laughing at the graphics but I miss out on the joke. At the opening credits the names of the stars are chopped so much they are unreadable, and that's just at the start of the program and it gets worse after that.

Same with the crime dramas when they have closeups of the evidence. If it is a letter or a closeup of a computer screen enough is missing that I can't follow the evidence.

Sight gags on the sitcoms are heading in the HD direction.

More and more programs are recorded in HD and I'm watching less and less prime time or anytime TV because it is becoming less and less enjoyable.

PBS has programs shown in letterbox for us without HD and that is appreciated. NBC had letterbox for a while but I understood that some of the viewing audience didn't like the missing portions on their screens. Pandering to the lowest common denominator instead of the intelligence of the viewing public?

All in all please keep in mind those of us who are still viewing the program with 4:3 instead of 16:9 TV sets when you set up the graphics.

Brian, your beautiful-you don't need to change a thing.

I was very disappointed by the opening statements on tonight's broadcast. First, that the war began with precision bombs that hit their targets. The documentary Why We Fight had details how rare our precision bombs hit their targets and it also highlighted how none of the opening bombs hit their targets, but instead the bombs destroyed homes in the area killing the innocent civilians. Second, that the war has claimed an estimate of 60000 Iraqi lives. There have been two detailed surveys on Iraqi casualties, the 2006 Lancet survey that concluded an estimate of 650000 lives, ten times more than stated at the start of the broadcast, and the earlier Economist survey back in 2004 that offered an estimate at that time of 100000 Iraqi lives, before the civil war really took hold. We have destroyed the country of Iraq and destroyed the lives of so many families (either through death or dislocation) and all of that because the Bush administration thought it would be a cakewalk to replace the Iraqi government with a puppet regime (and it did not matter to them that the Iraqi people had nothing to do with 9/11). Maybe if the level of death in Iraq were not so frequently minimized (even in tonight's broadcast), an honest discussion of our surge and our continuing presence (Richard Engle said probably 50000 troops for a many years) would address the impact of this military occupation on the Iraqi people and the appalling causalties on everyone (including the many disabled US troops getting a mention with the Walter Reed scandal). A military solution does not solve a political problem. Even Bush's talk today talked of the terrorists in Iraq, not an insurgency and a civil war, and as always he confused our strategy for managing this quagmire by trying to link our occupation in Iraq with 9/11 - which has been repeatedly shown to be a lie.

Hi Brian:
MBC celebrates itself too much. What is there to celebrate about four years in Iraq?

YOU celebrate the news coverage of Iraq - SHAME! What about celebrating the soldiers and

their families???

Lee Allen

Your closing collection of scenes from the four years of war unaccountably left out "Mission Accomplished." How come?

Got to love the A380! Thanks for covering it fairly! I'd love a ride in it myself regardless of where it was even going. It’s an absolute marvel of technology when you look under the covers. Seeing what we've accomplished in just a mere 100 years of flight makes me proud just to be human. Even though the A380 is larger than a 747, it’s 50% quieter thanks to amazing new engine technology. It is just as fast, has a longer range (NYC to Hong Kong non-stop), it is 13% more fuel efficient, and has larger seats for passengers, so don’t get too anxious about its size!

Even though there are more passengers, they are able to actually board faster thanks to the new double-deck gantries and double-wide stairwells inside the plane. It is also the safest commercial airliner because it has FOUR backup systems not just three.

The reason I don't think it’s selling well in the U.S. is because of the weakness of the US dollar. Airbus does employ a substantial number of US employees. In fact, I think its the largest foreign aerospace firms operating in the US!

I’d be lax without commending European innovation here. They have some of the fastest trains, some of the longest bridges and tunnels in the world, the largest telescopes, a remarkable rocket launcher, the best cars, an environmental and energy policy that works... I could go on but to me they are a source of great inspiration and I respect them very much! Keep up the good work!

P.S. You guys actually think those circular intersections are easier for older people? I’m not so sure… Perhaps if I used them more often…

Brian,

Welcome Back! I am big fan of yours. I grew up with Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw and Larry King. Currently, I am studying journalism.

One statistic I never hear and I am curious about is the number of wounded Americans in this war. I know that there are over 3000 deceased; however, no one ever talks about the number of wounded. I am sure it must be a staggering amount and could account for the lack of attention of care at facilities such as Walter Reed.

Lastly, I would like to say that I appreciate your news coverage. I have watched a lot of news over the years and recently. I prefer your reports for the in-depth coverage, participation and research involved in them. Thank you for making news count.

Brian:

I enjoyed reading your profile in Men's Vogue. Welcome back from vacation. I look forward to today's broadcast.

Karen

Will High Definition mean a new graphics package? In short, what will a shift to HD mean to the averager viewer...or to you, Brian, in the production of the nightly newscast?

Welcome Back Mr. Williams! I am glad you are back safe and sound. I wish there was a way we could keep Richard here in the United States all the time. I always pray for his safety and worry about him being in that region. I wish that NBC could find a position for him here and he wouldn't have to return to Iraq. I know I would vote for it. Because as you have noticed from my comments before about Richard that I am a big fan of him. I hope you pass along all the comments to Richard because everyone deserves to know how much people care about them. Stay safe Richard and it is wonderful to see you in New York! Peace to you!

Brian, welcome back :) Thanks for the link to Michael Yon's blog; it's fascinating, and I look forward to reading more from him.

As for the surgery ... um, you don't need it :)

Brian:

I enjoyed reading your profile in Men's Vogue. I hope you enjoyed your week off. I look forward to today's broadcast.

Karen

Welcome back Brian
Four years only now do we know the real reason the US invaded Iraq. Nothing to do about WMD or Iraq Freedom. It is about oil rights for US oil companies. It's hard now for President Bush to keep his promises of money without the rubber stamp 109th Congress. Our troops haven't had the supplies they need to protect themselves because the money went else where. Our injured troops are left to care for themselves as their money goes to the war profiteers. The President and Generals in Iraq say things are going good as we hear 4 more soldiers killed, tortured bodies found and bombings that kill and injured hundreds of Iraq people. Now that's what is called going good. If Bush doesn't get the money for the war profiteers and pay his foreign supporters there will be hell to pay.

Welcome back Brian, it's great to have both you and Richard Engel back safe and sound. It's weird to think that 4 years ago I was accused of being on the side of the terrorists because I was against the war in Iraq. I wonder what those accusers think of the war today.

The coverage on MSNBC has been excellent, I'm looking forward to the Nightly News tonight. As I said it's great to have you back, I could only imagine what sort of an impact your trip must have had on you.

Let's hope the next 4 years will bring better news.

Brian its good to see you back I missed seeing you and am glad you're safe. I'm excited to hear numerous stories from Iraq that we didn't get to see in previous broadcasts; the story of American soldier really is an inspiration for us "civilians" who often complain about everday simple things. Watching those stories is in a way self-gratification because you're thankful there are people out there fighting for our freedoms but at the same time you feel bad that they lead these lives. I personally lack the courage to go into these Iraq in fear of death or losing a limb. But you're reporting on these stories lets the soldiers feel appreciated similar to how you showed the appreciation for firefighters in New Orleans.

Welcome back!

It is hard to believe this war is as "old" as it is. My local NBC station here in NY had a segment on the Iraq war that put this war into perspective compared to the length of World Wars I & II, Korea & Vietnam. What a distressing comparison.

Any chance you can get hold of Richard Engel's passport and keep him hear in the states? Like many I worry about his safety. Maybe he could find a new passion in covering say the weather or fashion? Put him on the presidential campaign trail, he would be one of the few journalists completely prepared for how to deal with such ugliness and stay in it for the long haul.