If Geraldo could find Saddam Hussein’s secret vaults, it might make up for that fiasco he had a few years earlier looking for Al Capone's lost vaults.  As a rising star reporter, Geraldo Rivera had been given a big opportunity on prime time network television to do a major investigative report.  Workmen were excavating the basement of a Chicago building which had once belonged to roaring-twenties crime boss, Al Capone.  It all sounded very exciting.  But the show turned out to be, just watching a bunch of guys with shovels dig around in the dirt.  The only thing they found, was that some things are actually less exciting than watching paint dry.  Unfortunately for Geraldo, the show was watched by just about every person in America.  There wasn't much going on that evening (including, it turned out, finding any secret vaults of Al Capone).  Geraldo’s television special actually made the movie Ishtar seem like entertainment.  Going to Iraq would be like a second chance for Geraldo.  And even if the American public could never forgive him for the Al Capone escapade, well, if he actually found Saddam Hussein's secret vaults, the major television networks might forgive him.  That made Geraldo sort of an underdog.

    But alas, it was not to be.  On March 31, a Pentagon spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that Geraldo Rivera would be removed from Iraq, because of a map he drew in the desert sand, during a live television broadcast.  Geraldo's map pointed out the current location of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, and showed where it would be headed.  Geraldo’s employer, Fox News, denied that Geraldo knowingly disregarded the military security rules when he drew the map. 

    The rules, which are a good idea, allow journalists freedom to report on the war, while maintaining military security by requiring reporters (including apparently Geraldo) not to give away sensitive military information, like where our troops are, what they are getting ready to do, and how many bullets they have.

    According to other news sources, Geraldo later blamed the problem on lies being spread about him, perhaps by his former employer, NBC News.

    Lots of Americans are angry about this.  And who can blame them, with journalists like Geraldo Rivera drawing maps of troop movements for an international television audience, which might include someone who works for the enemy.  But many other people think we should forgive Geraldo.

    Sure, that Al Capone thing was about a million years ago, but nobody has forgotten it.  As a journalist, Geraldo gets about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield.  No one listens to him anymore.  Not even the Iraqis.  So what harm has he done?