Oh, *that* liberal media

[Alex Moon]

from the NY Times.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 8 — American officials here have obtained a detailed proposal that they conclude was written by an operative in Iraq to senior leaders of Al Qaeda, asking for help to wage a "sectarian war" in Iraq in the next months.

The Americans say they believe that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who has long been under scrutiny by the United States for suspected ties to Al Qaeda, wrote the undated 17-page document. Mr. Zarqawi is believed to be operating here in Iraq.

The document was made available to The New York Times on Sunday, with an accompanying translation made by the military. A reporter was allowed to see the Arabic and English versions and to write down large parts of the translation.

The memo says extremists are failing to enlist support inside the country, and have been unable to scare the Americans into leaving. It even laments Iraq's lack of mountains in which to take refuge.

Yet mounting an attack on Iraq's Shiite majority could rescue the movement, according to the document. The aim, the document contends, is to prompt a counterattack against the Arab Sunni minority.

Such a "sectarian war" will rally the Sunni Arabs to the religious extremists, the document argues. It says a war against the Shiites must start soon — at "zero hour" — before the Americans hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis. That is scheduled for the end of June.

So a Jordanian member of Al-Qaida in Iraq requests help from the bosses.

How does CNN spin this?

Report: Iraqis want Al-Qaida to drive US out

[Stormbringer]

Your point being what exactly?

[Joe]

I think it kind of speaks for itself.

[Stormbringer]

What I'm getting out of this is two things:

1) CNN can't get the story right.

2) The media is publishing over hyped gloom and doom stories.

Neither of which is exactly news.

[Zac Naloen]

its not the iraqi's that want you out, its a jordanian... i think thats the point.

[Alex Moon]

Your point being what exactly?

That CNN titled an article in such a way as to give the impression that Iraqis were supporting al-Qaida, even though the piece in question said no such thing. In fact it claimed that Al-Qaida is having such trouble gaining support in Iraq that they have to consider a major change in strategy.

[Stormbringer]

Your point being what exactly?

That CNN titled an article in such a way as to give the impression that Iraqis were supporting al-Qaida, even though the piece in question said no such thing. In fact it claimed that Al-Qaida is having such trouble gaining support in Iraq that they have to consider a major change in strategy.

And that has what to do with any bias one way or the other? To me it simply looks like the usualy Vietnam Pt II stories most news outlets have produced.

[Alex Moon]

What I'm getting out of this is two things:

1) CNN can't get the story right.

2) The media is publishing over hyped gloom and doom stories.

Neither of which is exactly news.

They're deliberately distorting their news to create gloom and doom stories where none exist. The CNN story is simply a summary of the Times story. The fact that they got it wrong suggests that it was either a deliberate change, or that their views are so deeply ingrained that they can't fairly report the work done by others.

[beyond hope]

And the Fox headline is:

Iraqi Guerrilla Leader Sought Al Qaeda's Help

Everyone's got an axe to grind.

[Stormbringer]

They're deliberately distorting their news to create gloom and doom stories where none exist. The CNN story is simply a summary of the Times story. The fact that they got it wrong suggests that it was either a deliberate change, or that their views are so deeply ingrained that they can't fairly report the work done by others.

Which has little to nothing to do with any politcal bias and a lot more to do with sensationalism.

And the Fox headline is:

Iraqi Guerrilla Leader Sought Al Qaeda's Help

Everyone's got an axe to grind.

The guy is a guerilla in Iraq.

[beyond hope]

And the Fox headline is:

Iraqi Guerrilla Leader Sought Al Qaeda's Help

Everyone's got an axe to grind.

The guy is a guerilla in Iraq.

I should have posted the text of the article.

NEW YORK — To help "tear the country apart," an opponent of the U.S. presence in Iraq asked Al Qaeda leaders for help in creating a sectarian war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, U.S. officials said Monday.



American officials obtained a detailed 17-page proposal for such a war that they said came from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search ), a Jordanian who is suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda. The story was first reported in The New York Times, which said U.S. forces confiscated the letter from an Al Qaeda suspect in Iraq

"We believe the report and document are credible. We take the report seriously," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt (search ), deputy chief of operations, told a news conference. He said the letter would be made public later.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the letter was on a computer disk found on Hassan Ghul (search ), a senior Al Qaeda courier arrested last month by Kurdish forces as he tried to enter the country from Iran.

The Times said its reporter viewed the Arabic document and a military translation on Sunday. It said the document is the strongest evidence to date of contacts between extremists in Iraq and Al Qaeda. (emphasis mine)

"We are persuaded that al-Zarqawi was the author of the letter. It is our understanding that this letter was being taken out of the country for delivery abroad," he said.

Coalition spokesman Dan Senor (search) said the letter talks about "a strategy of provoking violence, targeted at Shiites leaders that would result in reprisals against other ethnic groups within the country."

The strategy is "focused on provoking ethnic sectarian warfare in this country in the hope of tearing this country apart," Senor said.

The Times report quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying that American forces arrested a man who had the document on a computer disc and was taking it to Afghanistan to get it to Al Qaeda's senior leaders.

The author of the document claimed he had directed about 25 suicide bombings inside Iraq, but said the resistance against the U.S. occupation was struggling to recruit Iraqis and to combat American troops.

The memo even offers a kind of praise for U.S. forces, saying "America, however, has no intention of leaving no matter how many wounded nor how bloody it becomes."

Senor said "it is clear that the type of techniques we have seen all these have fingerprints of Al Qaeda and foreign fighters."

The letter expresses frustration over efforts to force the United States out of Iraq and suggests that attacks on Shiites would prompt retaliation against Sunnis and a cycle of widening violence, the newspaper said.

"It is the only way to prolong the duration of the fight between the infidels and us," the letter says, according to the New York Times. "If we succeed in dragging them into a sectarian war, this will awaken the sleepy Sunnis who are fearful of destruction and death at the hands" of Shiites, it said.

Kimmitt said the wording of the document reflects the author's desperation.

"In many ways this guy is disappointed at his lack of success ... What it does show is that concerted efforts [on part of the Iraqi people and the coalition] is the greatest power he is afraid of. It is almost a sign of desperation," he said.

Senor said the author of the letter talks about "taking action and setting up operations before the June 30 handover" of power by the Americans to a sovereign Iraqi government.

He said the letter also warns that "the biggest bulwark against the success of this strategy would be the continued standing-up of Iraqi security forces, the continued American resolve and the handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government."

"All three we are in the process of doing right now," he said.

They reference the NY Times for the part I put in bold about the Iraqi rebel/Al-Qaeda connection, but omit the part that Alex Moon bolded about "limited success in recruitment."

[Stormbringer]

Again, it's an overhyped story. But neither the headline or the article is wrong in that he's a guerilla in Iraq and might have ties to Al-Queda.

[Ma Deuce]

1) CNN can't get the story right.

HA! What's new: remember the "assault weapon ban" a decade ago, and CNN's reporting on it? The fact that CNN calls itself "the most trusted name in news" clearly indicates how stupid people are...

[KrauserKrauser]

At what point does "can't get the story right" become "intentionally skewing the truth to meet their views." Because as it stands this is some significant evidence for the latter,

[Gil Hamilton]

Never judge a news article by it's title or link. This has nothing to do with political bias, but everything to do with getting you to read the article. It's been shown that people will click on a link or take time to read an article if the article has a big sensational title, which is the goal of the news source. That's why big huge gloom and doom titles are used, even when they aren't quite accurate, because everyone wants to read about gloom and doom. After all, newspapers exist to sell themselves.

Conservatives and liberals both accuse the media of distorting the news toward the opposite end, but they are both wrong. The media doesn't care about politics as much as it does getting ratings and selling papers. Thus, the media will distort the story any which way they can, to get their target demographic interested. Do you think FOXNews is conservative leaning because their media mogul is particularly conservative? Hell, no. They are doing it because there is a profit to be had, playing on many conservatives notion that the media is liberal, rather than a whore. And it worked.

[beyond hope]

Gil: well said