Judith Miller: The Source of the Trouble - NY Magazine

[im10ashus]

This is an interesting look into how Judith Miller has obfuscated on behalf of the right-wing warmongers.



The Source of the Trouble

Pulitzer Prize winner Judith Miller’s series of exclusives about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq—courtesy of the now-notorious Ahmad Chalabi—helped the New York Times keep up with the competition and the Bush administration bolster the case for war. How the very same talents that caused her to get the story also caused her to get it wrong.

By Franklin Foer

For critics of the Iraq war, the downfall of Ahmad Chalabi occasioned a hearty, unapologetic outpouring of Schadenfreude—a loud cheer for a well-deserved knee to the administration’s gut. In fact, it was possible to detect a bit of this spirit on the front page of the New York Times. On May 21, the editors arrayed contrasting images of the banker turned freedom fighter turned putative Iranian spy. Here he is smirking behind Laura Bush in the House of Representatives gallery as the president delivers his State of the Union address. There he is looking bleary and sweaty, after Iraqi police stormed his home and office in the middle of the night. An analysis by David Sanger went so far as to name names of individuals who had associated themselves with the discredited leader of the Iraqi National Congress. The list, he wrote, included “many of the men who came to dominate the top ranks of the Bush administration . . . Donald H. Rumsfeld, Paul D. Wolfowitz, Douglas J. Feith, Richard L. Armitage, Elliott Abrams and Zalmay M. Khalilzad, among others.”


The phrase “among others” is a highly evocative one. Because that list of credulous Chalabi allies could include the New York Times’ own reporter, Judith Miller. During the winter of 2001 and throughout 2002, Miller produced a series of stunning stories about Saddam Hussein’s ambition and capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction, based largely on information provided by Chalabi and his allies—almost all of which have turned out to be stunningly inaccurate.

For the past year, the Times has done much to correct that coverage, publishing a series of stories calling Chalabi’s credibility into question. But never once in the course of its coverage—or in any public comments from its editors—did the Times acknowledge Chalabi’s central role in some of its biggest scoops, scoops that not only garnered attention but that the administration specifically cited to buttress its case for war.


cont'd.


http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/media/features/9226/index.html

[thebigidea]

1. if only Chalabi actually had a downfall.

[Stephanie]

3. true - doesn't he hold office in Iraq now?

I seem to remember they signed him on for something

[thebigidea]

4. vice premier or something?

he was also acting treasury sec. and oil ministry sec. for a while. The irony!

[im10ashus]

5. Exactly!

He has done well by all of this and still hasn't had to answer to a Grand Jury.

[Stephanie]

2. She's quite the glamour-babe, isn't she?

I didn't realize her father owned nightclubs in New Jersey and Las Vegas.

[im10ashus]

6. He helped Elvis revive his career.

She has a very interesting past.

[aquart]

7. "Stunningly inaccurate." That means "false"?

[im10ashus]

9. Indeed that's the implication.

A good quote from this article that resonated with me, given the today's events:

If Miller is an extreme example of the Times’ ultracompetitive mind-set, she is also an example of an inherent problem of journalism: its reliance on sources.

[spanone]

8. Mr. Chalabi is the acting MINISTER OF OIL - no shit -

Hollywood wouldn't buy this script


~snip~ BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq failed to name an oil minister for its new government on Thursday and controversial politician Ahmad Chalabi was appointed acting minister of an industry plagued by sabotage attacks and uncertainty.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7666574/

[im10ashus]

10. How convenient, eh?

And isn't there about, oh, $8,000,000,000 in unaccounted oil revenue there now?

According to Harper's June 2005 Index:

Annual cost of all sixteen U.N. peacekeeping missions currently underway: $3,870,000,000

Monthly cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq: $4,100,000,000

Revenue from Iraqi oil sales that the CPA could not account for, according to a 2005 audit: $8,800,000,000

Estimated number of U.S. intelligence reports on Iraq that were based on a single defector: 100

Number of times the defector had ever been interviewed by U.S. intelligence agents: 0



http://www.harpers.org/

[Gloria]

19. Can't find the link right now, but I read a recent article which said

that Chalabi was working with a group that wanted the South to break away from the rest of Iraq (Basra etc.)

I know I posted this when I found it....will try to relocate story..

[im10ashus]

26. PLEASE DO!

I think it's important to stay on top of what Chalabi is doing. I believe he is still in cahoots with *co.

[Gloria]

27. OK....here is the Chalabi/Southern Autonomy info...

Not exactly where I read it...but same info... the internal link (major movement) links to the NY Times of June 30, a story by Edward Wong...(need to register)

http://americanentropy.blogspot.com/2005/06/southern-autonomy-and-iraqi-civil-war.html

hursday, June 30, 2005

Southern autonomy and the Iraqi Civil War
A lot of lefty bloggers say that there is an ongoing civil war taking place in Iraq right now. While that may be a nice frame I don't think calling it a civil war is correct, yet. For the most part the Sunnis have antagonized the other parties in their country but have been unable to spark any major conflict; which is, as most agree, a main goal of the insurgency in Iraq. I wrote about the mysterious activities that have taken place in Baghdad and around Iraq involving Sunni citizens being beaten and murdered by Iraqi police (although they could have been Sunnis impersonating Shiites who dominate the police) in order to further prod a future Civil War.

Anyway, if this war does occur; I think the beginnings of it will be in Southern Iraq. It is here where there is a major movement to create a region in the South of Iraq that would have "the same broad powers that the Kurds now have, including an independent parliament, ministries and regional military force." A group of secular Southern Shiites, including Ahmad Chalabi, lead the charge that is similar to the desires of the Kurdish citizens in the Northern area of Iraq. This may give the Kurdish independence movement more legitimacy and momentum, resulting in a three-way split of Iraq which would not be well received by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or Iran; as well as the rest of the region when if the situation gets out of hand.

The reasoning for the movement is centered on oil/money which was held from the region by Saddam and is not reaching them now

The politicians argue that the long-impoverished south has never gotten its fair share of the country's oil money, even though the bulk of Iraqi oil reserves lie near Basra, at the head of the Persian Gulf.
...
The advocates of autonomy say that while the south has 80 to 90 percent of Iraq's oil reserves, the country's only ports and its richest date palm groves, the neglect under Mr. Hussein's rule is painfully evident: many of the avenues here resemble garbage dumps, open sewage floods some streets, and shantytowns dot the landscape. The south should have partial or full control over how its oil wealth and other income are distributed, the federalists say.


Another reason is frustration with the current government in Iraq

"There's no democracy in Iraq," Mr. Yasseen said, expressing the deep suspicions of moderate and secular Shiites. "Anyone who says there's democracy has a little Saddam in his head. He wants to become a Saddam."


Aid for the Kurds is giving support to the Balkanization of Iraq, and must be worrying Washington and the surrounding nations of the region.

"I support a real region in the south," said Abdul Khalik Zengana, a senior official in the Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of the two main Kurdish parties. "That will help our interests, and it will help to enhance federalism in Iraq. We bless this step. But we also think southern federalism should be decided on by a referendum of people in the south."


One interesting opponent is young radical Cleric Moktada al-Sadr; whom I would have thought would be for it. Shows what I know.


***************************************


Secular Shiites in Iraq Seek Autonomy in Oil-Rich South
By EDWARD WONG
Published: June 30, 2005
A cadre of politicians is pushing for an autonomous region, posing a challenge to Iraq's central authority.


I'm breaking this out as a separate thread...

[im10ashus]

28. Thanks, Gloria!

Very interesting. Upthread I posted about how, now that he is head of the Oil Ministry, there is over $8,000,000,000 missing from the audit. Interesting and VERY telling, IMHO. That's a lot of zeros behind that 8.

[nashville_brook]

11. is "Schadenfreude" the word of the day?

it makes me want to scream real loud.

[thebigidea]

12. somewhere in the 90s, essayists had to use the word due to court order

[Cha]

13. judy, judy, judy..

"a pair of big feet that would stomp on colleagues in her way and even crunch a few bystanders—she cut a larger-than-life figure that lent itself to Paul Bunyan–esque retellings."

The Bigger they are the Harder they fall!

And Franklin Foer is a senior editor at TNR..

I remember reading some distinctly pro repuke articles there by him..my, how times have changed!

[im10ashus]

14. She's cut a wide path.

But she's certainly left a trail of enemies behind her.

[Cha]

16. Kinda fits the profile

of a witch who would lie to get innocent people bombed..or are we to believe she believed everything chalabi told her? she's either a liar or the biggest gullible fish ever to come down the pike.

judy's house of cards has waited a long time to crumble.

[im10ashus]

18. I am still dying to know who her "source" was.

Or was it Chalabi? If it's Chalabi, does that mean he had security clearance here?

[bunny planet]

20. I seem to remember reading or hearing somewhere that Chalabi himself

is really a CIA asset.

[JDPriestly]

15. Whole, long article is worth reading.

[im10ashus]

17. Thanks, JD.

It is rather long, but very telling. I have a clearer picture of the little imp now.

[Garbo 2004]

21. Thank you for posting this article. A good read. n/t

[Disturbed]

22. Did anyone notice that she..

was smiling on her way to jail? She will become even more rich and famous now. She and Chalabi and the Bush Regime pulled off a heist of grand proportions. Who suffered and will do so for a long time?

[Garbo 2004]

23. From reviled by other journalists over her WMD coverage to a hero. Yup

she was smiling.

[im10ashus]

25. Let's see who has the last laugh. n/t

[im10ashus]

24. You are welcome. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

29. kick and recommended n/t