The New York Time's Journalistic OBEDIENCE

[Segami]

<>

In this Jan. 28, 2011 file photo, Pakistani security officials escort Raymond Allen Davis, a U.S. consulate employee, center, to a local court in Lahore, Pakistan.



:smoke: :smoke: :smoke:


The paper of record once again withholds key information because the government tells it to.


by Glen Greenwald



Earlier today, I wrote in detail about new developments in the case of Raymond Davis, the former Special Forces soldier who shot and killed two Pakistanis on January 27, sparking a diplomatic conflict between the U.S. (which is demanding that he be released on the ground of "diplomatic immunity") and Pakistan (whose population is demanding justice and insisting that he was no "diplomat"). But I want to flag this new story separately because it's really quite amazing and revealing.



Yesterday, as I noted earlier, The Guardian reported that Davis -- despite Obama's description of him as "our diplomat in Pakistan" -- actually works for the CIA, and further noted that Pakistani officials believe he worked with Blackwater. When reporting that, The Guardian noted that many American media outlets had learned of this fact but deliberately concealed it -- because the U.S. Government told them to: "A number of US media outlets learned about Davis's CIA role but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration."



Now it turns out that The New York Times -- by its own shameless admission -- was one of those self-censoring, obedient media outlets. Now that The Guardian published its story last night, the NYT just now published a lengthy article detailing Davis' work -- headlined: "American Held in Pakistan Shootings Worked With the C.I.A." -- and provides a few more details:



-...In other words, the NYT knew about Davis' work for the CIA (and Blackwater) but concealed it because the U.S. Government told it to. Now that The Guardian and other foreign papers reported it, the U.S. Government gave permission to the NYT to report this, so now that they have government license, they do so -- only after it's already been reported by other newspapers which don't take orders from the U.S. Government.


cont'


http://www.salon.com/news/the_new_york_times/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/02/21/nyt


.

[Vinnie From Indy]

I am still unclear as to whether this man works for the CIA or XE

If he is a private contractor, how does international law treat him? Does he have diplomatic immunity?

The NYT gave up being an honest broker of news long ago, but it is nice to occasionally be reminded of exactly how far they have fallen.

Cheers!

[Segami]

4. " Mr. Davis has worked for years as a C.I.A. contractor,

including time at Blackwater Worldwide, the controversial private security firm (now called Xe. "

UPDATE II: At his news conference last week, this is what President Obama said about the Davis situation:

With respect to Mr. Davis, our diplomat in Pakistan, we've got a very simple principle here that every country in the world that is party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has upheld in the past and should uphold in the future. And that is if -- if our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that country's local prosecution.



I believe its the position of the State Department and WH that they want Davis treated as a diplomat....LOL!,..Now thats a stretch!!..:rofl:

.

[social_critic]

5. The man could work for the CIA and also have diplomatic immunity

The way it works, the man could be a CIA employee seconded to the State Department. US embassies (as well as embassies from other cuontries) carry a complement of CIA employees who work using diplomatic cover. These are pretty safe jobs.

Valerie Plame, the lady whose CIA role was disclosed by the Bush administration, was a NOC, which means Non Official Cover, I believe. NOCs are the agents who can get killed, shot, tortured, and so on. And when it happens, it's seldom revealed.

I learned this by reading books such as Imperial Hubris by Anonymous, the CIA officer who was in charge of tracing Osama bin Laden.

[patrice]

1. NYT > Judith Miller's previous "professional" home for LIES about Iraq & Valerie Plame

[Segami]

3. If they don't get caught red handed with their hand in the cookie jar, it NEVER happened.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Was this the transparency I was promised??

Any more transparency and one could see all the way to WikiLeaks

[social_critic]

6. Who promised you anything about CIA agents in Pakistan?

I'm sorry, but I don't think the transparency issue extends as far as telling you who is a CIA agent in Pakistan. This applies even more to agents working the street in Islamabad or say Peshawar. I think Peshawar is just as bad as Kandahar, as far as a US government employee is concerned.

A transparency issue you may want to bring up: Why is Guantanamo still open, who is in there, why are they being held, and why are they not being put on trial, released, or treated as POWs?

Another issue of interest: Why did the USA vote against the UN Security Resolution to condemn Israel for its settlement policy?

[gratuitous]

7. The word mercy is going to have a new meaning

When we are judged by the children of our slaves.

[xchrom]

8. ...

:mad: xe and the cia has a revolving door -- and sometimes one is an employee of both.