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April 12, 2006WaPo lines up a Frontpage lie? UPDATEDUpdate: (scroll down for more updates) Ed Morrissey finds the WaPo report unraveling even more. Bob Owens thinks so. The actual facts are that a single team of nine civilian experts wrote a “unanimous” report that was only unanimous within their one group, while two military teams of experts reached the conclusion that these were bioweapons labs. By careful and I believe willful deceit, the Post would seem to purposefully imply that all experts examining the suspected bio-weapons trailers unanimously came to the conclusion that these trailers were not used to manufacture bio-weapons, and that the Administration blatantly lied in the face of the evidence. The actual facts are that this was not only a not a unanimous report, but that the “unanimous” report of the one team was actually a minority view overall. This is willful misrepresentation of the facts by Joby Warrick and the editors of the Washington Post in a page one story. There were indeed varied interpretations of the suitability of these trailers to manufacture bio-weapons, yet the Post article purposefully decived its readers to lend weight and column inches to the minority viewpoint that was not unanimous as they suggested. Ed Morrissey agrees with Bob: This is a rather pathetic and transparent example of how the news media stages information so as to be most damaging to an administration they don’t like. The downplaying of the full context of this story shows that Warrick and his editors want sensationalism and hyperbole over facts and real reporting. This could have been a story about how even a creative strategy as that used by the Pentagon to review these trailers still wound up producing the wrong analysis. In trying to paint it as an example of administration dishonesty, the Post instead reveals its own. The Corner describes more. As I said here, the job of the MSM, these days, is the willful dissemination of disinformation - mostly meant to do one thing - get George W. Bush out of office. As usual, headline readers will see this distortion, digest it and it’s “locked in the narrative” for all time. President Bush does not deserve this. America does not deserve it, either. We deserve much better. And we’re not getting it. The press is unserious about anything beyond the furtherance of its agenda. This is despicable. And up to now, I’d had a lot more respect for the WaPo than for the NY Times. Seems they are racing to see who can get to the bottom first. Sister Toldjah has more, and JYB and OTB are following. UPDATE: Today’s WaPo front page, along with the events of the week, have caused Sensible Mom to boil over, and she has a righteous rant! They lie when they mislead. They lie when they omit. They lie with headlines. They lie with qualifiers. They lie when they misquote. They lie when the report leaks without revealing the intentions of the leakers. And with all their lies they are destroying the fabric of this nation by being willing accomplices to those whose sole purpose is to bring this country to its knees. Investigative reporting for the media is only important if it’s directed at their enemies. Crimes and connections needing investigation are overlooked when friendlies are concerned. So we don’t hear about Brian Becker’s hope for revolutionary class struggle as his reason for involving International A.N.S.W.E.R. in the illegal immigrant marches. Read the whole thing. Then read Protein Wisdom and check out his timeline. Flopping Aces doubts the WH will get the apology it seeks. Siggy says: If you are in a position to influence public opinion- and clearly, that has become the journalistic mandate, clearly, we have the right to know who you are. Meanwhile the excellent Vaughn Ververs at CBS Public Eye looks at the WaPo story - in conjunction with a few other media morsels - and wonders if, finally, newsgathering by leaking has seen its zenith…but read the whole thing. While Ververs has a unique and admirable ability to consider a story from diverse angles, he doesn’t find much about which to be optimistic. http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/04/12/wapo-lines-up-a-frontpage-lie/trackback/ 9 Responses to “WaPo lines up a Frontpage lie? UPDATED” |
April 12th, 2006 at 11:44 am
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Time to hold journalists accountable.
April 12th, 2006 at 11:48 am
See this:
http://sigcarlfred.blogspot.com/2005/09/getting-to-know-you.html
April 12th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
[...] The Anchoress [...]
April 12th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Boiling Point
The pro-illegal immigrant protests combined with recent anti-military / anti-American thuggery at UC Santa Clara and the media’s bold deceptions about Bush Administration’s policies makes this country look more and more like a banana republic. These…
April 12th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
The WaPo and Biolabs
In the comments to my post yesterday about the ideological spin used by an ideologically-driven press to forge a particular narrative about a war with which they disagree, commenter rls pointed out this Washington Post story on a Pentagon team&apos…
April 12th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Let’s recall a salient fact that’s been omitted from all these recent stories. Those “trailers” were buried. Local residents mentioned to the troops that something was buried there at the start of the war. I remember the original stories filed described them as being “buried as deep as they were long.” And also recall that the compacted Iraqi soil is as easy to excavate as concrete. Pretty strong security precautions for a hydrogen generator for weather balloons! Them Iraqis sure love their weather balloons! They must be concerned about global warming! I also remember an interview with one of those “experts” a day or so after the original story. He seemed to base his conclusion that the trailer was not used for biological weapon production on the fact that he did not see any means to disinfect the equipment as would be the case if that were the intended use. But later I heard that there were installed quick-disconnect fittings on the units and portable steam generators found(and paperwork supporting the purchase). Since the equipment is only sterilized prior to starting a culture, doesn’t it make sense to use portable steam generators that could be used on multiple labs? I suggested that they give the “experts” water and have them produce hydrogen without modifying what was found in any way. Even changing the control settings. Shouldn’t the equipment found be able to do this, if that was its function? And while they’re at it, they might want to explain why the equipment was cleaned with a strong caustic agents(confirmed by samples taken for analysis). Is that EVER done for units that produce hydrogen for weather balloons or any other reason?
Let’s look at a little analogy. Let’s say the police are responding to reports that your neighbor “Bob” buried something in his backyard. Let’s say they dig it up and discover a large crate containing disassembled cell phones, wire, 2″ black pipe in 12″ lengths, pipe caps with a single hole drilled through them, timers,etc. Now we know that these items can be used in a number of ways, most of them harmless. But would anyone just stop there? Given that these things were buried, wouldn’t a reasonable human being begin checking reports of recent bombings? Checking the materials used and tool marks on what was found and comparing them with what was used in the bombings? Would his lawyer suggest that this was all innocent and easily explained away? Perhaps the artifacts of a failed hobby, or Spring cleaning? Would you let it go at that?
Is this the way that the US, Russia, or China would produce biological agents? No. Given the descriptions I’ve read, could these trailers have been used to produce biological agents? Absolutely. I can culture bacteria with what I find in any of your homes. Now where’s my large stock pot? Or my water heater… Don’t try to tell me that these trailers couldn’t have been used for that purpose. The truth will come out after we comb through all the documents available and interview people associated with all the projects, and sorts through lies and misinformation. If that matters to anyone anymore…
April 12th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
The Washington Post’s Biolab Deception
The Washington Post has a page one article today which deceives its readers about the findings on mobile biolabs in Iraq: On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his…
April 12th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Lies and the lying liars who tell them
The Washington Post is doing their thing:On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. troops had turned out to be
April 13th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Roundup: Iraqi trailer trash or WMD?
Riehl World View (also here), Power Line (also here), Brutally Honest, Little Green Footballs, ProfessorBainbridge.com, PoliPundit.com, Ace of Spades HQ,…