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03/25/2006:

"Fisk: The farcical end of the American dream"

Datelined Washington — an odd city in which to learn about Iraq, you might think — its opening paragraph reads: "Despite the recent arrest of one of his would-be suicide bombers in Jordan and some top aides in Iraq, insurgency mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi has eluded capture, US authorities say, because his network has a much better intelligence-gathering operation than they do."

Now quite apart from the fact that many Iraqis — along, I have to admit, with myself — have grave doubts about whether Zarqawi exists, and that al-Qaida's Zarqawi, if he does exist, does not merit the title of "insurgency mastermind," the words that caught my eye were "US authorities say." And as I read through the report, I note how the Los Angeles Times sources this extraordinary tale. I thought US reporters no longer trusted the US administration, not after the mythical weapons of mass destruction and the equally mythical connections between Saddam and the international crimes against humanity of Sept. 11, 2001. Of course, I was wrong.

Here are the sources — on pages one and 10 for the yarn spun by reporters Josh Meyer and Mark Mazzetti: "US officials said," "said one US Justice Department counter-terrorism official," "Officials... said," "those officials said," "the officials confirmed," "American officials complained," "the US officials stressed," "US authorities believe," "said one senior US intelligence official," "US officials said," "Jordanian officials... said" — here, at least is some light relief — "several US officials said," "the US officials said," "American officials said," "officials say," "say US officials," "US officials said," "one US counter-terrorism official said."

I do truly treasure this story. It proves my point that the Los Angeles Times — along with the big east coast dailies — should all be called US OFFICIALS SAY. But it's not just this fawning on political power that makes me despair.
agrnews.org