The New York Times has issues, even if you don’t

Over at Salon, Glenn Greenwald keeps his hair close-cropped, the better to avoid pulling it out in rage and frustration over the manifold lies and crimes of the U.S. government and its frequent mouthpiece, the New York Times.

On April 4, the Times ran a breathless piece headlined “U.S. Sees Iran in Bids to Stir Unrest in Afghanistan,” which began with the following two smokin’ paragraphs:

Yes, American troops burn copies of the Koran, and those dastardly Iranians try to take advantage of it. Israel loudly threatens to attack Iran, and fear spreads that that evil nation—“The Great Satan” as I believe Rick Santorum likes to call it—might even seek to defend itself! But with all this build-up, the Times article, written by Thom Shanker, Eric Schmitt, and Alissa J. Rubin, lacks the nerve to say anything substantial about Iran’s “willingness and ability to foment violence in Afghanistan and elsewhere”—since, rather sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any good evidence that Iran has the willingness or the ability to foment violence. However, the “issue” of said willingness and ability has somehow taken on “added” urgency—like, it was urgent before, but now it’s like way urgent.

At least, that’s what Thom, Eric, and Alissa try to get people to tell them, and the various “experts” try hard to cooperate. Regarding the recent non-unrest in Afghanistan supposedly sponsored by Iran, Vali Nasr, a former State Department official and now head of the Johns Hopkins School for International Studies, had this to say:

“The intent is not devastating operations, but raising the temperature to create deterrence. Amateurs are tougher to detect and catch. It caught our surveillance off guard. We were looking for pros. They went below the radar.”

As for the first sentence, how does Vali know what the Iranians’ intent was? As for the rest of it, “they went below the radar” because they didn’t accomplish anything. Amateurs are tougher to detect and catch because they don’t do anything. Remind me not to enroll in the Johns Hopkins School for International Studies.

But at least Vali had the grace to allow himself to be identified. Most of the article is based on testimony of U.S. government officials granted immunity because their moms told them not to lie in public. O the Times! The Times! Always fomenting ignorance and error at the behest of the U.S. government!