A McClatchy story about a study of the Iraq conflict by former senior Pentagon official Joseph Collins is blasted by Collins at the Small Wars Journal blog:
The Miami Herald story (“Pentagon Study: War is a ‘Debacle’ “) distorts the nature of and intent of my personal research project. It was not an NDU study, nor was it a Pentagon study. Indeed, the implication of the Herald story was that this study was mostly about current events. Such is not the case. It was mainly about the period 2002-04. The story also hypes a number of paragraphs, many of which are quoted out of context. The study does not “lay much of the blame” on Secretary Rumsfeld for problems in the conduct of the war, nor does it say that he “bypassed the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” It does not single out “Condoleeza Rice and Stephen Hadley” for criticism…
Of course, the usual suspects in the Leftosphere ran with the distorted McClatchy story. TPM’s Paul Kiel named it a “must read” — as opposed to the study itself, even though he linked it. Spencer Ackerman did an update post that does not link back to the original. ThinkProgress buries the link in its story, giving no indication that Collins is calling the story a distortion. The Carpetbagger Report simply parroted ThinkProgress. John Cole, to his credit, did a pretty straightforward update, though he might have mentioned that the study is not a NDU study and that most of it covers 2002-04, as opposed to telling his readers to read the study themselves. Curiously, the main post makes clear that Cole read the study, but he did not link to it until the update.
(h/t Memeorandum.)
Update: Insta-lanche!
Let me just add this to the list… Volume VII, page 1233…
Too bad there’s actually no real penalty for dishonesty left. I can’t bring myself to join the Liar Brigades, but with their many successes, it’s only a matter of time.
Any blog that links a McSketchy story think they are getting any kind of objective truth is run by a full-on, braces-on-the-legs, bowl-haircut, walking-into-the-sliding-glass-door, drooling harelip retard. Sorry for the insult the mentally challenged…
[…] Yawn. I mean, really, this is about as dog-bites-man as it gets. But hats off to Karl for uncovering it just the same. Category: Fucking Morons, Near-Naked Propaganda ♦ ♦ […]
“Curiously”?
Not so much, no.
I was “quoted out of context”… hmmm… you don’t hear that excuse very often. I guess the feigned outrage is reserved for when someone on the left says that.
“Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle.”
Yup… definitely a distortion.
Yay! The war is a debacle!!!! Finally something to celebrate after the rough week our man Obama has had!
Hey, using the “joshers quotient,” any observation made years ago is still necessarily controlling. Probably because Obama has sucked all the possibility for change out of the space time continuum.
The result is kinda cool, though.
Thus:
The atom is still the smallest particle of matter.
The earth is still flat.
The Captain and Tennile still RAWK!
Go back and GOOGLE IT, PEOPLE!
You had me going up until this:
“The Captain and Tennile still RAWK!”
They never RAWKED. Little River Band, OTOH….
Fuck the Little River Band. Poco, man. And Klaatu.
Don’t make me bust out Air Supply, Dan. Because that wouldn’t work, would it?
And so another stone is set in the comunity based reality of the left. Outside of Cole, I bet none of those tools actually read the study(and Cole didn’t comprehend it if he did read it). It’s almost like they’re gullible or something.
Klaatu
Teh Beatles !!!
Klaatu? I would have pegged Dan as a fan of “Anus of Uranus”…
Jeff,
I meant “curiously” like Altoids.
I picture him more as a chip off old Sir Rugglesby.
These people never give up. Iraq could be Switzerland and it would still be bitch bitch bitch. And hope for disaster. They are like vultures on road kill.
How do you distort “Pentagon institute calls Iraq war ‘a major debacle’ with outcome ‘in doubt'” … and that’s the headline, word for word!
ff11 – Why don’t you ask the author? Fucking lying crapweasels. ff11 and joshers should have to rent oxygen from the rest of the sentient world.
Nibbling on bacon, chewin’ on cheese
Andy says Baracky “Honey, would you please be my missus?”
And he says yes
With his kisses
Since they apparently can’t read, perhaps ff11 and joshers would comprehend this post if someone put it in braille on their genitals. At least they’d have time to work on it. And no, I’m not volunteering.
hint: Collins is not specifically objecting to use of the word “debacle.” But that’s a pretty strawman, innit?
Karl – They cannot deal with real people and real ideas. The strawpeople, they do not fight back, and they are highly flammable.
War News: McClatchey News Anti-Americanists
These poor excuses for journalistic integrity couldn’t get a story straight if their lives depended on it. And, by the way, it does. They just don’t or won’t see the threats from the enemy. They are very similar if not identical to the chronic malco…
I’m a DJ at a local soft-rock radio station, Soft Hits of the 70’s 80’s and 90’s, it 106.8 on your dial, Campy in the Morning is the name of my show.
Why don’t you guys just crap in a lunch bag, light it on fire, and stomp it all over my career, why dontcha?
Of course, the usual suspects in the Leftosphere ran with the distorted McClatchy story.
Tsk, tsk. They forgot a major rule – if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
Author who once worked for Pentagon institute calls Iraq war from 2002 – 2004 ‘a major debacle’ with outcome ‘in doubt’â€Â
Fixed.
Since they apparently can’t read, perhaps ff11 and joshers would comprehend this post if someone put it in braille on their genitals.
I think tattooing with a blunt needle is required in this particular case.
Feets:
Progs are muskrat-lovers.
joshers:I was “quoted out of contextâ€Â… hmmm… you don’t hear that excuse very often. I guess the feigned outrage is reserved for when someone on the left says that.
The outrage is not feigned over stuff like this.
Speaking of debacles and endless wars, can we just withdraw from LBJ’s War on Poverty already? My back is killing me from carrying those parasites with no end in sight. Its a debacle I tell ya!
Apparently not. The Democrats are actually recommending another surge.
Reading the orginal document and comparing it to the McClatchy account doesn’t support any charge of distortion or of taking quotes out of context. Yes, it mainly covers the decision making process between 2001 – 2003, but there are references all through the piece to events in 2006-2007. And despite mentioning recent gains in security, the author insisted in describing the war as “a debacle” in his opening sentence. It’s also clear in the orginal document that the NDU IS the publisher and that it is published as a study for the INSS which is the policy research arm of the NDU. Non of the charges against the McClatchy report stand up, somebody must have come down hard on the author for him to make false charges that are easily debunked.
um, actually, it’s a bit more nuanced than that.
In the preface to the study, Collins clearly is referring to the recent past, not 2002-2004:
“Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the
status of a major war and a major debacle. As of fall 2007…”
“The Congressional Research Service estimates that the
United States now spends over $10 billion per month on the war, and that
the total, direct U.S. costs from March 2003 to July 2007 have exceeded
$450 billion…”
well, how about you actually quote from the “preface” Steve J.?
not from the preface:
thanks for sharing
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