This NYTimes letter will hit home for all of DU

[NewYorkerfromMass]

The Times ran 9 letters Thursday to capture the sentiment of reaction to their 'apology' for the sloppy reporting leading up to the war- this one is the killer:

To the Editor:

I am a faithful Times reader, but I don't know quite what to think about your editorial confession. Somehow, I doubt that many will find it comforting.

Perhaps if you and other news organizations had shone a brighter light on George W. Bush and Dick Cheney before the last presidential election, we would have no Iraq war to report on today at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/opinion/L27IRAQ.html?pagewanted=print&position=

bravo to the Times for publishing it.

[Kool Kitty]

1. Bravo!

Indeed. But I still want them to send Judith Miller on her merry way.

[Hand]

2. Hear, hear...

IMHO Miller's in the same category as the worst of the Bushistas--screw up completely, stupidly, and blindly? No worry, you won't be fired.

Of course, if she had any professional integrity she'd take the hint and resign. Don't hold your breath...

:mad:

[billyskank]

15. Perhaps she figures that

integrity is for paupers? :(

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. that was Tim Russert

on why he called the election for Bush in 2000 (at the urging of his off camera boss Jack Welch) despite the uncertainty of Florida.

[wtmusic]

3. Not good enough

The best response:

When I read "The Times and Iraq," I thought: Not good enough. You're The New York Times.

Those of us in the air-conditioned wilderness with our minds still intact need your eyes — accurate and each morning.

Failure and self-flogging won't unspill the blood in Iraq.

Getting the truth every day, on each piece, is an impossibly high standard. But it is the mark of The New York Times. Back to work.

JON BELL
Tucson, May 26, 2004

[fearnobush]

4. Now we must pressure the NYT's to keep the truth.

We can start with 9-11 Widow Ellen Mariani RICO Act suit against Bush co.

NYT, please report the truth on 911 Bush lies so we can get the criminal Bush administration out of Power. We know they lied about Iraq, how about some truth with 911 and Bush's LIHOP (Let it happen on purpose) or MIHOP (Made it happen on purpose)? The evidence is pretty strong on LIHOP. Just do a little investigative reporting. Or better yet, ask 9-11 Widow Ellen Mariani who filed RICO Act suit against BushCo.
<http://www.911forthetruth.com/>
The 911 commission is a joke - and everyone knows it. NYT's you can do great work for this country, let alone journalism by doing her story.

[salin]

5. Still protecting ole Judith

would bet that many of the responses that they have received mentioned the chief culprit by name... but the carefully selected "sample" of letters don't mention her, nor do they refer to any writer at all (all very global per the whole Times).

[NewYorkerfromMass]

8. I thought these 2 were farily direct

Although of course they do not "name names"

To the Editor:

The Times reports, with insufficient embarrassment, that it has been snookered for more than two years on the subject of Iraq by the Bush administration.

There must be a lesson here somewhere. Perhaps it is this: Don't believe anything this administration says unless it can be independently verified.

The instinct to jump into print should have been constrained by the responsibility to check the facts. Instead, The Times found itself used, consciously or not, as a Bush propaganda organ to drum up support for the Iraq war.

ROGER LIPPMAN
Seattle, May 26, 2004

To the Editor:

Your admission that The Times's reporting on intelligence claims about prewar Iraq was insufficiently skeptical is welcome. But it is disappointing that you had to wait until Ahmad Chalabi fell from grace with the United States government before you acknowledged the dubious nature of his information and your reporters' overdependence on him.

STEVEN SHERMAN
Chapel Hill, N.C., May 26, 2004

[Teddy_Salad]

6. Why has Judith Miller still got a job there?

Does she need to turn into a black male journo before she can lose her job?

And just how many deaths was Jayson Blair's false reporting responsible for again?

What a rag!

[SoCalDem]

7. Ole Jayson may have "copy machine toner" on his hands, but

Judith has blood on hers...

cue.."Out, damn spot...."..

[sophie996]

17. it's not just judith

her editors should have had the good sense to question her on sources, and an attempt to fire her would result in an appeal by her union, the newspaper guild, which would open that can of worms. the union is legally obligated to defend its members, even when they're clearly in the wrong, or they can be sued.

the smart thing to do would be to assign her to stories like fires in harlem.refusing an assignment was a firing offense, last time i looked at the contract.of course, the same goes for the editors, provided they're not exempt from union membership.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

18. Interesting ethical questions you bring up

It is a can of worms.

[JohnyCanuck]

9. The Lies of Our Times

Good article from Amy and David Goodman at Znet on the whoring NY Times and their chief whore, Judith Miller.

The Bush administration knew just what to do with the story they had fed to Gordon and Miller. The day The Times story ran, Vice President Dick Cheney made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows to advance the administration's bogus claims. On NBC's Meet the Press, Cheney declared that Iraq had purchased aluminum tubes to make enriched uranium. It didn't matter that the IAEA refuted the charge both before and after it was made. But Cheney didn't want viewers just to take his word for it. "There's a story in The New York Times this morning," he said smugly. "And I want to attribute The Times."

This was the classic disinformation two-step: the White House leaks a lie to The Times, the newspaper publishes it as a startling expose, and then the White House conveniently masquerades behind the credibility of The Times.

<snip>

Tom Wolfe once wrote about a war-happy Times correspondent in Vietnam (same idea, different war): The administration was "playing of The New York Times like an ocarina, as if they were blowing smoke up his pipe and the finger work was just right and the song was coming forth better than they could have played it themselves." But who was playing whom? The Washington Post reported that while Miller was embedded with MET Alpha, her role in the unit's operations became so central that it became known as the "Judith Miller team." In one instance, she disagreed with a decision to relocate the unit to another area and threatened to file a critical report in The Times about the action. When she took her protest to a two-star general, the decision was reversed. One Army officer told the Post, "Judith was always issuing threats of either going to The New York Times or to the secretary of defense. There was nothing veiled about that threat."


Later, she played a starring role in a ceremony in which MET Alpha's leader was promoted. Other officers were surprised to watch as Miller pinned a new rank on the uniform of Chief Warrant Officer Richard Gonzales. He thanked her for her "contributions" to the unit. In April 2003, MET Alpha traveled to the compound of Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi "at Judy's direction," where they interrogated and took custody of an Iraqi man who was on the Pentagon's wanted list-despite the fact that MET Alpha's only role was to search for WMDs. As one officer told the Post, "It's impossible to exaggerate the impact she had on the mission of this unit, and not for the better."


Fatal Error:The Lies of Our Times

[leesa]

10. Yes they were accomplices to the criminal invasion

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Worse than that, they were accomplices to Gore's pillory in press

More responsible reporting 4 years ago would have changed history for the better. And that's an understatement.

I see soul searching everywhere. Abu Ghraib has put everyone off the deep end.
I see real remorse, real regret.
They screwed us 4 years ago and they know it.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I don't get the TIMES, so keep us posted on this please? :^)

[Catherine Vincent]

13. The repuke callers on cspan continue to label the NYTtimes

as a liberal newspaper. Go figure.

[redqueen]

19. Nobody ever accused repukes of being anywhere near quick on the uptake

knowwhati'msayin?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

14. kick