:
Sa Oct 22 -

THE MILLER STORY -

Who shaped the Sunday story
credited to Judith Miller
which I referred to below?

An article at the NY Observer seems to validate my prior suspicions:

*Ms. Miller’s own account of her grand-jury testimony about the leaking of C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity was actually co-written with investigative reporter David Barstow, who is perceived in the newsroom as one of Ms. Miller’s allies. Mr. Barstow didn’t receive a byline or any other mention of his work in the paper...

By Thursday, Oct. 13, Ms. Miller and Mr. Barstow had begun writing. Her lawyers at Skadden Arps reviewed the piece, which was filed at noon on Oct. 14, 24 hours before deadline for the national bulldog edition of Sunday’s paper.*

Printer Alert Version:
:: HASH: Scocca+Sherman ::
-- For the NY Observer --

...

:
Th Oct 20 -

PSEUDO-NEWS MEETS
PSEUDO-TRANSPARENCY

This is from a funny and entertaining piece by Tina Brown about the Judith Miller Saga:

All I could extract from Sunday's Miller marathon was her own implausible revelation that after having 85 days in jail to think about it, she has no memory of where she got that memorable Marvel Comics name -- VALERIE FLAME -- that was mysteriously inscribed in her recently surfaced notebook. Miller also mentions running into I. Lewis Libby in a cowboy hat and sunglasses at a rodeo in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and failing to recognize him. "Judy," he said. "It's Scooter Libby!" But was it? Maybe it was Don Imus. Or Moammar Gaddafi.

Early on, I formed a casual impression that this "Judith Miller Saga" was a product manufactured by some press agent. I didn't read last Sunday's article with the Miller byline because I didn't expect to get any serious, important, or illuminating information out of it.

And then, Tina Brown remarks in passing: The script is like a rejected pilot for the WB network.

Tina Brown may have good instincts. But was this saga from the same PR firm which cooked up the Kuwaiti Baby Incubator Story? Or maybe it's from a different company.

Anyway... Enjoy!

:: Seeing Right Through...
-- By Tina Brown --
-- WashPost, Reg Req'd --

...

:
W/Th Oct 20 -

SADDAM TRIAL REACTIONS -

*Arab leaders have been
toppled before, but none
have ever been put on trial.*

:: Ambiv. Arab Reaction ::
-- By Magdi Abdelhadi --
__________________

:: M.E. Press Survey: BBC ::
__________________

*As a moment of legal history, it is too early to tell how the trial of Saddam Hussein will be judged by posterity; as a piece of theatre, the main players lived up to their billing on the opening day.*

:: Aljazeera TV Net ::
-- An Editorial Perspective --
__________________

While Baghdad’s streets were nearly empty, most Iraqis were glued to the TV, and I bet many Arabs were as well. Our place was full of friends today as we decided we would watch the trial together...

:: ITM Blog perma ::
__________________

Michael Scharf, who helped train the Iraqi trial personnel, is hosting a special legal experts' blog at Case School of Law. It has a lot of material, but is quite dense. And not for the faint-hearted. Try it, if you dare...

:: Saddam Trial Blog ::

...

:
M/Tu Oct 18 -

DEATH BY SNACK -

Is eating during Ramadan
punishable by death?

*Iranian police have been accused of shooting and killing a motorist after he failed to stop when spotted eating during holy month of Ramadan, an AFP report said yesterday.*

:: Khaleej Times ::

...

:
M/Tu Oct 18 -

A QUIET NO -

Aljazeera TV reports on its website that about 189,000 Fallujans turned out to vote in a remarkably peaceful process.

*As the group exited the polling stations, many Iraqi and foreign journalists asked why they had voted no to the constitution. They asked what other alternative there could be to the constitution.*

:: Aljazeera TV Net: Falluja ::

...

:
M/Tu Oct 18 -

WAR ON THE NET -

In case you haven't heard...

*The Web site run by al-Qaida in Iraq was strangely quiet during the referendum on the new Iraqi constitution... And now we know one reason why.*

Possibly a Big Get:

US-led forces have arrested
Abu Dijana in Karabilah who
has been allegedly operating a
major Al-Qaeda website in Iraq.

:: U.S. nabs - MSNBC ::
-- By Ashraf al-Taie --

...

:
M/Tu Oct 18 -

ON THE IRAQI VOTE -

Mister Ghost does a roundup
of the Iraqi Bloggers' reactions.

Omar says:
Just said my YES... Probably the worst thing today is the intense heat which was a little over 100f but that didn't stop the crowds from walking in the sun to the voting stations, I personally had to walk nearly 4 miles in total but it's definitely worth the effort...

:: Iraqi Bloggers Vote ::

...