New York Times Magazine Relies upon Faked Research to Smear Military
Jonathan S. Tobin 05.10.2011 - 10:31 AM
Commentary EXCERPT:
On the day that Osama bin Laden was finally tracked down and killed, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published a cover story detailing the murder of Afghan civilians by American troops. The point of the piece was not to break the news of these crimes, since the incidents had already been uncovered and prosecuted by the military. Rather, they served as the jumping off point for a smear job, portraying the U.S. military as a bloodthirsty band of savage war criminals.
Entitled A Beast in the Heart of Every Fighting Man, Luke Mogelsons story described the murder of an Afghan elder in Kandahar province as well as two other civilians by five members of one army platoon. Since the news had already been reported elsewhere, Mogelson had a broader point to make. As his title made clear, he saw the activities of one small group of soldiers led by a sociopathic sergeant as representative of the U.S. militarynot only the spirit of the American effort in Afghanistan, but the governing ethos of the U.S. military as a whole.
<<<SNIP>>>
But what Mogelson fails to disclose in his article is that, more than 20 years ago, the New York Times itself published an article debunking the numbers upon which his entire argument rests.
On February 19, 1989, the Times published a front-page story by Richard Halloran detailing the findings of historians who had probed Marshalls research and discovered it was completely fabricated.
END EXCERPT
Link to 89 Story
Jonathan S. Tobin 05.10.2011 - 10:31 AM
Commentary EXCERPT:
On the day that Osama bin Laden was finally tracked down and killed, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published a cover story detailing the murder of Afghan civilians by American troops. The point of the piece was not to break the news of these crimes, since the incidents had already been uncovered and prosecuted by the military. Rather, they served as the jumping off point for a smear job, portraying the U.S. military as a bloodthirsty band of savage war criminals.
Entitled A Beast in the Heart of Every Fighting Man, Luke Mogelsons story described the murder of an Afghan elder in Kandahar province as well as two other civilians by five members of one army platoon. Since the news had already been reported elsewhere, Mogelson had a broader point to make. As his title made clear, he saw the activities of one small group of soldiers led by a sociopathic sergeant as representative of the U.S. militarynot only the spirit of the American effort in Afghanistan, but the governing ethos of the U.S. military as a whole.
<<<SNIP>>>
But what Mogelson fails to disclose in his article is that, more than 20 years ago, the New York Times itself published an article debunking the numbers upon which his entire argument rests.
On February 19, 1989, the Times published a front-page story by Richard Halloran detailing the findings of historians who had probed Marshalls research and discovered it was completely fabricated.
END EXCERPT
Link to 89 Story
