I’m told that the NY Times apology for the antics of Judith Miller and Ahmad Chalabi are rather tepid. But, nonetheless, there it is.

For the curious, one item runs in my memory as particularly head-scratching.

This is perhaps the funniest news article ever to appear on the front page of the New York Times:

Warehoused Here.

Headline: Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert

What a headline! Note the passive voice. Why or why is the healine not “Iraqi Scientist Asserts”?

Most impressive paragraph in the article:

Under the terms of her accreditation to report on the activities of MET Alpha, this reporter was not permitted to interview the scientist or visit his home. Nor was she permitted to write about the discovery of the scientist for three days, and the copy was then submitted for a check by military officials.

Three days late, eh?

Try this one out:

While this reporter could not interview the scientist, she was permitted to see him from a distance at the sites where he said that material from the arms program was buried.

Clad in nondescript clothes and a baseball cap, he pointed to several spots in the sand where he said chemical precursors and other weapons material were buried. This reporter also accompanied MET Alpha on the search for him and was permitted to examine a letter written in Arabic that he slipped to American soldiers offering them information about the program and seeking their protection.

In the end, this story boils down to: nondescript guy in a baseball cap, off in distance, points down to ground nodding in approval; reporter then glances at document written in language she does not know.

Brilliant journalism!

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