Sunday, February 11, 2007

The Schizoid New York Times

Okay, I'm not naive but how can the Times on one hand print an editorial like this:

It took far too long, but a report by the Pentagon inspector general has finally confirmed that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s do-it-yourself intelligence office cooked up a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda to help justify an unjustifiable war.

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And then put unsubstantiated shit like this on the front page on the same day:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — The most lethal weapon directed against American troops in Iraq is an explosive-packed cylinder that United States intelligence asserts is being supplied by Iran.

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Any quotes regarding this information are attributed to "officials" or "American Intelligence". What are you saying, Gray Lady? That you understand (now, finally) the WH ginned up its own intelligence then (as your Girl of the Moment Judy Miller helped spread like so much manure) yet you don't believe them capable of doing it again?

And now you let another shill in the guise of Michael Gordon spread it around some more? Do you guys understand the job of an editor? Sorry, but if I get snowed once, I sure as hell ain't taking their word again. Or do you want what credibility you have left go the way of the Chimp's?

If I can weasel the deed for that bridge I sold Gordon away from him, I'll sell it to you guys. You should be able to see it from your window, the big Neo-Gothic structure that spans the East River between Mahattan and Brooklyn.

Update:

Dr. Cole via Rez Dog in comments:

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Moreover, there is no evidence of Iranian intentions to kill US troops. If Iran was giving EFPs to anyone, it was to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its Badr Corps paramilitary, for future use. SCIRI is the main US ally in Iraq aside from the Kurds. I don't know of US troops killed by Badr, certainly not any time recently.

It is far more likely that corrupt arms merchants are selling and smuggling these things than that there is direct government- to- militia transfer. It is possible that small Badr Corps stockpiles were shared or sold. That wouldn't have been Iran's fault.

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Update:

Perfect quote from Greenwald:

... The Michael Gordon article from yesterday is so alarming because it stems from this same dangerous and sickly dynamic -- journalists eager to prove to Rush Limbaugh and Hugh Hewitt and Bill Kristol that they are on the Right Side by mindlessly accepting any claims from the military and refusing to examine the urgent questions raised by our increasingly war-seeking posture towards Iran ...


Update:

Cdr. Huber finds WaPo guilty of the same:

With mainstream media patsies like these, who needs Judith Miller?

Wittingly or unwittingly, the mainstream media continues to aid and abet the Bush administration's propaganda campaign on Iran. Shortly after Sunday's round of political gabfests, the Washington Post posted a story online (by Joshua Partlow) that supported the claims of the right's talking cable heads about Iran's actions in Iraq.

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