(Note to literalists: the Watched column presently contains only a smattering of 'warblogs' because the facilitator of the template-change--Dr. Menlo--is not very familiar with them, and will be adding more as they are sent to him. Also, this blog may contain areas of allusion, satire, subtext, context and possibly even a dash of the surreal: wannabe lit-crits beware.)
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[Watch this space for: Pentagon and Petroleum, The Media is only as Liberal as the Corporations Who Own Them, Wash Down With, and Recalcify]
WARBLOGGER WATCH
Monday, April 21, 2003
Andyland as Bizarro World: Sullivan's back and recommending a reporter for the blatantly biased and thoroughly discredited Raines Times for a Pulitzer.
A great shame that he's no longer patrolling Ira Stoll's beat, documenting the paper's God-awful reportage. This Judith Miller piece, "Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert," is about the worst Miller, Head Numskull In Charge of the Defense Department steno pool, has filed to date.
Note these paragraphs:
An American military team hunting for unconventional weapons in Iraq, the Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha, or MET Alpha, which found the scientist, declined to identify him, saying they feared he might be subject to reprisals.
...
Under the terms of her accreditation to report on the activities of MET Alpha, this reporter was not permitted to interview the scientist or visit his home. Nor was she permitted to write about the discovery of the scientist for three days, and the copy was then submitted for a check by military officials.
Those officials asked that details of what chemicals were uncovered be deleted. They said they feared that such information could jeopardize the scientist's safety by identifying the part of the weapons program where he worked.
...
While this reporter could not interview the scientist, she was permitted to see him from a distance at the sites where he said that material from the arms program was buried.
Clad in nondescript clothes and a baseball cap, he pointed to several spots in the sand where he said chemical precursors and other weapons material were buried. This reporter also accompanied MET Alpha on the search for him and was permitted to examine a letter written in Arabic that he slipped to American soldiers offering them information about the program and seeking their protection.
So, ignore what all those named scientists accessible to the press say. This guy, yeah, him over there in the ball cap, corroborates everything Bush said, thus obviating our need to produce the weapons that we told you Saddam had. Just please don't try to approach or question him. Also, sit on your copy for a few days before submitting it to us for screening and redaction. Basically, just report what we say.
I know Miller was bureau chief of Cairo, but I also know that many correspondents cannot speak the language of the country to which they are assigned. How well does Miller read Arabic? posted by Anonymous9:36 AM
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The Watchers
WBW: Keeping track of the war exhortations of the warbloggers.
