Pot calls the kettle "black op" - Reader comments at The New York Sun

Submitted by skilly, May 11, 2007 13:47

There is no denying that Ms. Miller is a fine writer. Her ability to write well must also be seen as an ability to reason. She has placed her review of the book in context of the big picure and even mentions her own involvement (without apology and in a defensive manner) in the events that lead us to war. BUT... her attempts to take Tenet to task for a failure to use critical thinking about the reprecussions of his advice is somwhat puzzling coming from Ms. Miller.

If she wrote a mea culpa article, I never read it. Her failure to question her sources or place the motivations thereof into question is a textbook example of how journalism is losing its professionalism. Her sin was not that she gleefully trumpeted false information fed to her for questionable purposes. Her sin was that of arrogance and seeming inaccountability. Journalilsts write endless reams of "what if" materials that turn out to be incorrect. But once they start reporting "what ifs" as Facts from unnamed "well-placed" sources and those facts repeated turn out to be wrong, an government policy is set based by the impressions created by the reporter, then somebody has to be held accountable for that reporters poor performance.

In the law we say that if one commits a negligent act that hurts someone, then that person is held responsible or the damages. In this instance, thouands of lives have been lost. Can one say that Miller's negligent acts were the cause of the loss of life? Dick Cheney repeatedly quoted Miller articles as rationale for the war. Although I make the case that she may be liable civilly for her careless acts, I write about the social punishment she ought face. Her creditbility is lost. This does not mean that she may not occasionally be correct, it just means that her funded "soap box" should be permanently removed. Ms. Miller, you may be right about Mr. Tenet and his Book, but you have the lost the right, in my eyes at least, to be critical of anyone.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
The next time someone says "let's have a war" could we please try to understand why they would want one.... [MORE]	don myers	May 15, 2007 04:48
Juith Miller writes: "As a reporter who was widely criticized for having written several articles based on those flawed estimates, I... [MORE]	Ace	May 11, 2007 22:52
Another highlight is Mr. Tenet's chilling description of the proliferation network run by A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's bomb,... [MORE]	Rick Goranowski	May 11, 2007 16:33
Somewhere in all this I get a voice in the back of my head " it's the pot calling the... [MORE]	bob castaneda	May 11, 2007 16:17
Judy, I got a lot out of your insights on Tenet's book. As someone who was there with a sideline... [MORE]	John Murphy	May 12, 2007 14:04
Why would anyone give credence to Judith Miller's opinion. A bit like the pot calling the kettle black, don't you... [MORE]	Xfire	May 11, 2007 16:06
You're no one to criticize Tenet. [MORE]	Joseph A. Palermo	May 11, 2007 15:59
If, as Ms. Miller states, former CIA Director George Tenet, prior to Sept. 11, 2001, proved to be a "colossal... [MORE]	Dave	May 11, 2007 15:56
REgardless of what Mr. Tenet writes or does not write, the author of this piece is someone who beat the... [MORE]	Tony Duggleby	May 11, 2007 15:40
I am shocked and amazed that this was written by Judith Miller. I will not spend a dime on Mr.... [MORE]	Red R	May 11, 2007 15:36
This is rich, coming from Judy Miller of all people! [MORE]	GG	May 11, 2007 15:07
... that's precisely what the mil/intel hierarchy wanted to happen. How better to build their national security police state. [MORE]	Prester John	May 11, 2007 14:56
Not that this explains it all, but the CIA and its relationship to the president, as Tenet describes it, carries... [MORE]	BC	May 11, 2007 14:08
There is no denying that Ms. Miller is a fine writer. Her ability to write well must also be seen...	skilly	May 11, 2007 13:47
When the first round of media chatter began regarding this book, and Mr Tenet clarified his use of the term... [MORE]	Bob Schuh	May 11, 2007 13:46
Judith, thanks for the interesting review. Well done! [MORE]	AC	May 11, 2007 09:18
This column sounded lik a sales pitch to buy a book according to Tenet's account of what happened. It is... [MORE]	Chet Biwen	May 11, 2007 04:32
If only the rest of us Americans could get a $4MM book deal for describing how we screwed up in... [MORE]	Steve Savage	May 11, 2007 02:59
I hope more people read your review than read this book but alas, we do live in a world full... [MORE]	Michael J. Joseph	May 11, 2007 02:42
Judith: As far as you go with the Final Judgement of Mr. Tenet, we need to realize that America doesn't want... [MORE]	jIM	May 11, 2007 02:01
What's the value of one wrongheaded person commenting on another! Nothing to undo the damage they have enabled! [MORE]	Walter Machann	May 11, 2007 01:57