NY Times says it fell for Iraq misinformation
Wed 26 May, 2004 20:18



By Grant McCool

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times has acknowledged it failed to
adequately challenge information from Iraqi exiles who were determined to
show Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and overthrow him.

In an unusual note from the editors, "The Times and Iraq", the newspaper
said it found a number of instances before the March 2003 U.S. and British
invasion of Iraq and early in the occupation, of "coverage that was not as
rigorous as it should have been".

The note said editors "should have been challenging reporters and pressing
for more scepticism".

The Bush administration also has been faulted for relying on inaccurate or
incomplete intelligence in asserting Saddam had an ongoing weapons
programme, a primary reason cited for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. No
significant biological, chemical or nuclear weapons have been found.

Wednesday's Times said it had relied on Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi, once
considered Washington's top Iraq ally. Until last week Chalabi was paid by
the United States for intelligence information that has proven to be faulty
in many cases.

Chalabi was an "occasional source" in its articles since at least 1991 and
introduced reporters to other exiles, the newspaper said.

"Complicating matters for journalists, the accounts of these exiles were
often eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to
intervene in Iraq," the note said. "Administration officials now acknowledge
that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources.

"So did many news organisations -- in particular, this one," the note said.

While the newspaper assigned no blame to individual reporters, a good deal
of criticism has been directed at Times reporter Judith Miller, who wrote
several articles about Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction.

Media critics, led by Slate columnist Jack Shafer, have urged the newspaper
to admit its errors as time passed and no weapons were found.

The editors' note cited five stories -- including several that appeared on
page one -- written between 2001 and 2003 that had accounts of biological,
chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq that have never been independently
verified or were discredited by its own reporters or reporters at another
news organisation.

STORY 'UNFINISHED'

The Times, one of the leading daily newspapers in the United States, said
the story of Iraq's purported weapons "and the pattern of misinformation"
was unfinished.

"And we fully intend to continue aggressive reporting aimed at setting the
record straight," the note concluded.

A Times spokeswoman said Executive Editor Bill Keller had no further
comment.

One media academic said the newspaper appeared to have been caught "in a
perfect storm" created by the wishes of the Iraqi exiles and the
administration of President George W. Bush.

"It was formed by the congruence of a group of Iraqis who wanted regime
change and the Bush administration that wanted regime change," said David
Rubin, dean of Newhouse School of public communications at Syracuse
University in Syracuse, New York.

"The two worked together in an area where the press has a hard time working
in, where they are dependent on national security sources, constrained to
name them or checking on them," Rubin said.

The newspaper's ombudsman, Dan Okrent, said he was not involved in the
editors' review but would write in Sunday's edition about his own separate
examination.

"I'm glad the paper did it," Okrent added.

The ombudsman said the circumstances were different from last year's scandal
involving reporter Jayson Blair, who was fired for fabricating and
plagiarising material.

"The coverage was not by one reporter," Okrent said.

The New York Times' top two editors, Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, left the
paper last June after the disclosure.

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