In a lengthy piece in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, former Executive Editor, now opinion piece writer, Bill Keller attempted to come to terms with both his own, and his paper’s, major failures during the lead-up and follow-through in the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
While Keller eventually comes around to admitting that both he and the paper got it wrong (albeit with lots of justifications for the failures along the way) he continued to hedge one very crucial bet in just the fifth paragraph, as he wrote [emphasis ours]:
We have been attempting to contact Keller since Sunday, asking via both email and Twitter:
Today Keller replied, admitting that that part of his Sunday story — a story about the Times’ costly failure of getting the Iraq War wrong — was wrong as well…
Fair point. “Almost” is one of those wiggle words writers use to allow for the possibility they might have missed something. I know of no evidence whatsoever that connects Saddam to 9/11, and I assume the widespread popular belief that there is some connection is a myth. But of course it’s hard to prove a negative, so it’s cautious – perhaps over-cautious – to say a connection is unproven rather than disproven.
Best,
Bill
But, of course, Keller hadn’t written that a connection between Iraq and 9/11 was “unproven,” as he avers in his response above. He asserted, in no uncertain terms, as late as this past Sunday, a full 10 years since 9/11, in an article meant to come to terms with his paper’s — “the paper of record’s” — unspeakably costly inaccuracies, that Iraq had “almost nothing to do with 9/11,” suggesting that they had, in fact, had some very small role in it.
There is, of course, no legitimate evidence of such a role, and both Keller and the New York Times should offer an immediate and clear and unhedging correction on that still-very-important point. (Hopefully, it will be a correction unlike the partial corrections they begrudgingly ended up publishing concerning their repeated misreporting on the phony James O’Keefe ACORN “pimp” hoax videos, after we’d spent many months proving to them that they’d gotten it entirely wrong and forcing them to finally offer correction.)
Tragic. My dear mom&dad believe nothing if it isn’t published in the NYT. Me, I feel like that is an office building that should be left empty-it is already full of echoes, not substance. I cannot imagine how the reporters of the major news organs even sleep at night. I do imagine they are actually afraid, and may know more than we do-and keep their mouths shut just like the many government employees who probably have knowledge of what REALLY happened leading up to and following the events of 9/11. Shame. Shame. Shame.
My contempt for this worm knows no bounds.
As regards modern day “journalism” my rule is this: if nobody is fired, it means that they are doing their job. So. Was anyone fired for supporting the trumped-up invasion of Iraq? No. Therefore their job was supporting the trumped-up invasion of Iraq.
We don’t HAVE “journalism” any more folks. Well, not in the mainstream press. The monopolization of the mass media has turned the mass media into mere corporate communications for the most powerful corporations… so if they want a war – say if GE wants to sell more military equipment – then a war shall be manufactured.
The mass media is nothing but propaganda.
There IS a solution. We CAN try to compel our legislators to enforce EXISTING anti-trust laws (there’s the trick – they already exist. Such laws could not presently be passed of course) against the media giants. Slim chance? Sure, what isn’t? At least it’s a chance.
Bill Moyers:
Bill Keller:
In 2004, New York Times learned that George W. Bush had spied on American citizens illegally, without warrants. The editors at the Times decided not to run the story until after the election was over because they thought it might have an effect on the outcome. They openly admit to this. They openly admit to rigging the election for Bush. There are no limits to what the New York Times editors will do to undermine our democracy.
When one is lying, it is not about being mistaken.
My wife will never admit she doesn’t know something, only conceding that she’s “not sure” about it.
She reads the NYT “sometimes.”
The Senator who headed up the Senate Intelligence Committee which did a 9/11 investigation on its own, then sent the data to The 9/11 Commission, recently on The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC, called for a new 9/11 investigation.
Go figure. Journalism is all mavericky and rogue any more.
What a bastard. How many lives could have been saved had this “Newspaper Of Record” done it’s job. Unforgettable and unforgivable.
His whole “apology” is weasel words. Anyone with a functioning brain knew there was no connection. What really gets my goat is liars (e.g. the Washington Compost) who try to pretend that “no one said there was no connection”. There was, but the media pretended we didn’t exist.
The media played along and sold the lie because they were more worried about their careers, about maintaining access to politicians and “not being shut out” of press conferences. Nearly every writer for everey commercial media outlet is guilty of complicity and willingly “catapulting the propaganda” for George Bu**sh** and his regime.
.
These Media Whore presstitutes are crucial in selling the LIES of War and should be held responsible once the war crimes tribunals begin.
The mainstream media War cheerleaders are vile scum.