The Washington Post's Cheney-ite defense of torture - -

(Blog Post) If anyone ever tells you that they don't understand what is meant be "stenography journalism" -- or ever insists that America is plagued by a Liberal Media -- you can show them this article from today's Washington Post and, by itself, it should clear Full Story »

Posted by Beth Wellington - via Jay Rosen, Memeorandum, Digg, Glenn Greenwald
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Posted by: Posted by Beth Wellington - Aug 29, 2009 - 10:47 AM PDT
Content Type: Blog Post
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Edited by: Beth Wellington - Aug 29, 2009 - 12:34 PM PDT
Beth Wellington
4.4
by Beth Wellington - Aug. 29, 2009

Greenwald provides background to criticize a story in the WaPo he sees as defending torture, when other sources, including the CIA Inspector General's report have indicated that torture was often counterproductive--moral issues aside. The WaPo story covered Monday's DOJ release of portions two documents that former Vice President Dick Cheney had claimed would prove the CIA's harsh interrogation tactics worked.Greenwald's conclusion is acid about "standard Post behavior." Actually the Post's behavior strikes me as uneven, rather than monolithic--a point he acknowledges in a way when he touts the Post's Greg Sargent's blog dissecting the CIA Inspector General's report. This seems common to be--look at the NYT breaking the ... More »

“It would be one thing for Fred Hiatt to have printed this Post article as an Op-Ed from, say, John Bolton or some dutiful, low-level former Bush official. That’s ... More »

See Full Review » (13 answers)
Kaizar Campwala
3.7
by Kaizar Campwala - Aug. 30, 2009

Greenwald picks apart WaPo's piece on Khalid Sheik Muhammad. He's effective at attacking it from several angles, showing how the piece is logically flawed, and how it is out of touch with other publications.

What makes the Post’s breathless vindication of torture all the more journalistically corrupt is that the document on which it principally bases these claims — ... More »

See Full Review » (12 answers)
Jim Lang
4.3
by Jim Lang - Sep. 2, 2009

Greenwald provides an objective critique of the Washington Post article then punctuates it with nasty asides.

See Full Review » (11 answers)
Patricia L'Herrou
4.7
by Patricia L'Herrou - Aug. 30, 2009

journalism is the issue here with detainee torture the subtext. this article is clear that the post article in question is not good journalism as its authors lay out v.p. cheney's views on the effectiveness of torture, using only unnamed sources, whose conflict of interest ties to the cia and cheney are clear, to confirm his statements.

On this subject of how effective torture is, a definitive conclusion is not yet reached. the larger issue of how valid is its use by our government has been determined many times over the years: that it is not.legal, moral, or ethical.

See Full Review » (7 answers)
Patrick McGuire
5.0
by Patrick McGuire - Aug. 30, 2009

While it is the author's opinion, he does makes a good argument with full quotes.

The idea that torture works can never be proven. The author makes a good point that there are laws and treaties against which the US holds as guiding principles that we are not living up to. His attack that the media is not as liberal as they may think they are and others portray them they are best selective.

See Full Review » (7 answers)
John Louden
4.0
by John Louden - Aug. 30, 2009

It's good to see the Post taken to task for what it is, rather than being revered for what it once was.

See Full Review » (6 answers)

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