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David Kay rebukes Washington Post
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, November 4, 2003 | Kenneth R. Timmerman

Posted on 11/03/2003 11:19:48 PM PST by JohnHuang2

MEDIA MATTERS
David Kay rebukes
Washington Post

WMD-search chief says reporter misidentified source in weapons hunt

Posted: November 4, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Kenneth R. Timmerman
© 2003 Insight/News World Communications Inc.

The head of the CIA's Iraq Study Group that is investigating Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programs issued a stinging rebuke of the Washington Post on Saturday. David Kay alleged that Post reporter Barton Gellman knowingly misrepresented information he had gathered in Iraq about the hunt for Saddam's WMDs and had misidentified a key source as well as the information Kay had provided Gellman in an interview.

Gellman's front-page story, which ran Oct. 26, was titled "Search in Iraq Fails to Find Nuclear Threat". Citing unnamed "investigators" as his source, Gellman stated breathlessly that "it is now clear [Saddam] had no active program to build a [nuclear] weapon, produce its key materials or obtain the technology he needed for either."

Gellman alleged that the Iraq Survey Group headed by Kay was keeping secret its most important internal judgments because they disproved the CIA's key prewar contentions and would embarrass the Bush administration. According to Gellman, Kay's men secretly concluded "that Iraq's nuclear-weapons scientists did no significant arms-related work after 1991, that facilities with suspicious new construction proved benign and that equipment of potential use to a nuclear program remained under seal or in civilian industrial use."

To reinforce the seriousness of his charges, Gellman quoted Australian Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Meekin as saying that the aluminum tubes found in Iraq that the CIA had claimed could have been used for uranium enrichment centrifuges were "innocuous." Gellman called that finding "pivotal, because the Bush administration built its case on the proposition that Iraq aimed to use those tubes as centrifuge rotors to enrich uranium for the core of a nuclear weapon."

Gellman used Meekin to debunk Bush administration claims in several different areas, claiming that the Australian commanded "the Joint Captured Enemy Materiel Exploitation Center, the largest of a half-dozen units that report to Kay." The only problem, as Kay wrote to the Post in a comment editors relegated to the "Free for All" section on Saturday, was that none of it was true.

Meekin, Kay wrote, "does not report, nor has he ever reported, to me in any individual capacity or as commander of the exploitation center." Furthermore, Meekin was not involved in the Iraq Study Group's investigation of Saddam's WMDs. Instead, his outfit was responsible for making a repertory of Saddam's conventional weapons programs. Indeed, as Meekin wrote in a separate letter that the Post printed side-by-side to Kay's, he had "stressed on a number of occasions" in his interview with Gellman that he did not report to Kay and that his outfit looked only at conventional weapons. "I did not provide assessments or views on Iraq's nuclear program or the status of investigations being conducted by the Iraqi Study Group," Meekin wrote.

Insight asked Washington Post editorial-page editor Fred Hiatt why the Post ran the Kay and Meekin letters in the weekend "Free for All" section, instead of on the more prominent op-ed page during the week.

"The Free for All page is designed primarily to give space to letters and short pieces that take the Post to task, whereas letters to the editor on the daily letters page may present substantive arguments on issues of the day without representing a complaint about coverage," Hiatt replied. "I do not regard any of these pages as more or less prominent."

Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler, who worked for the Post as a reporter and editor for 26 years before taking up his current post in November 2000, told Insight he was "looking into" the Gellman/Kay story but would not comment on whether the Post stood by Gellman's reporting. "Anything I do will be in my column this Sunday," he said. So far, he added, he hasn't interviewed Gellman in relation to Kay's complaints of misreporting and misrepresentation. The ombudsman's column is where the Washington Post comments on reports that its news coverage is biased or has contained serious inaccuracies.



TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: correction; davidkay; iraq; kennethrtimmerman; mediabias; rebuke; wmd; wp
Tuesday, November 4, 2003

Quote of the Day by sonsofliberty2000

1 posted on 11/03/2003 11:19:48 PM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: Timesink; kristinn; hellinahandcart
You don't wanna miss this one, Ping!
2 posted on 11/04/2003 7:23:01 AM PST by Stultis
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
"David Kay alleged that Post reporter Barton Gellman knowingly misrepresented information he had gathered in Iraq about the hunt for Saddam's WMDs and had misidentified a key source as well as the information Kay had provided Gellman in an interview."
3 posted on 11/04/2003 7:26:56 AM PST by Stultis
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To: JohnHuang2
Counting down the days till Gellman is fired for making stuff up. Sure I am . . .
4 posted on 11/04/2003 7:30:35 AM PST by savedbygrace
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To: JohnHuang2
This one also made Brit Hume's The Grapevine yesterday:

Off The Mark

David Kay (search), the chief weapons inspector in Iraq, has sent a letter to The Washington Post calling last week's story headlined "Search in Iraq Fails to Find Nuclear Threat" -- "wildly off the mark." Kay says much of The Post's analysis comes from an Australian army commander who, The Post says to the contrary, is not involved in Kay's hunt for weapons of mass destruction nor does he have any expertise in nuclear weapons.

The Post published Kay's letter, and alongside it is one from that Australian General who says he did not give The Post -- "views on Iraq's nuclear program or the status of investigations" conducted by Kay.

5 posted on 11/04/2003 7:34:18 AM PST by Stultis
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To: JohnHuang2; Landru
"Furthermore, Meekin was not involved in the Iraq Study Group's investigation of Saddam's WMDs. Instead, his outfit was responsible for making a repertory of Saddam's conventional weapons programs. Indeed, as Meekin wrote in a separate letter that the Post printed side-by-side to Kay's, he had "stressed on a number of occasions" in his interview with Gellman that he did not report to Kay and that his outfit looked only at conventional weapons. "I did not provide assessments or views on Iraq's nuclear program or the status of investigations being conducted by the Iraqi Study Group," Meekin wrote."

Sop, both the principles in this story, Meekin and Kay, have stated that Gellman's article in the Post was erroneous. Let's see if the Post corrects the mistake soon.

6 posted on 11/04/2003 7:40:49 AM PST by sultan88 ("I opened up the closet door, and out jumped Johnny B. Good...")
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To: JohnHuang2
Repaired links to Gellman's "story":

[www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17707-2003Oct25.html]

And David Kay's letter:

[www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49199-2003Oct31.html]

7 posted on 11/04/2003 7:42:11 AM PST by Stultis
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To: savedbygrace
Counting down the days till Gellman is fired for making stuff up. Sure I am . . .

He has already received his just do, from his fellow travelers. A rung up on the journalism ladder, slaps on the back for a job well done, and free drinks at their favorite watering hole. I hope he suffered a terrible hangover.!!

8 posted on 11/04/2003 7:46:40 AM PST by woodyinscc
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To: JohnHuang2
Same article, original source (Insight):

http://www.insightmag.com/news/547471.html

Cross reference to the thread on Kay's letter:

The Hunt for Iraq's Weapons (David Kay corrects Post Writers for misrepresenting) ^
      Posted by Pikamax
On 11/01/2003 11:20 PM CST with 17 comments


WashingtonPost ^ | 11/01/03 | David kay
washingtonpost.com The Hunt for Iraq's Weapons Saturday, November 1, 2003; Page A21 The Oct. 26 front-page article "Search in Iraq Fails to Find Nuclear Threat" is wildly off the mark. Your reporter, Barton Gellman, bases much of his analysis on what he says was told to him by an Australian brigadier, Stephen D. Meekin. Gellman describes Meekin as someone "who commands the Joint Captured Materiel Exploitation Center, the largest of a half-dozen units that report to [David] Kay." Meekin does not report, nor has he ever reported, to me in any individual capacity or as commander of the exploitation center

9 posted on 11/04/2003 7:48:31 AM PST by Stultis
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To: sultan88
Let's see if the Post corrects the mistake soon.

That would be MORE corrections. (Maybe they should replace Gellman with Jayson Blair?)

Washington Post runs a "correction" to their David Kay Story. ^
      Posted by Pikamax
On 11/03/2003 10:51 AM CST with 2 comments


WashingtonPost ^ | 10/25/03 | Barton Gellman
_____Correction_____ An Oct. 26 article incorrectly described the size of the force searching for evidence of an Iraqi nuclear program. Of those hunting forbidden weapons in Iraq, 1 percent, not one-tenth of 1 percent, are devoted to the search for nuclear arms. The story also erred in describing the qualifications of William Domke, an employee of an Energy Department laboratory. He is an authority on Iraq's former centrifuge enrichment program, but he is not a physicist.

10 posted on 11/04/2003 8:00:25 AM PST by Stultis
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To: JohnHuang2
{Washington Post editorial page editor} Hiatt replied. "I do not regard any of these pages as more or less prominent."

P O P P Y C O C K

just like any Administration makes sure it unpopular actions are late on a Friday ... c'mon ... when I lived in DC, I was surveyed by a Post contractor about exactly this issue ... what days of the week, what sections, what pages, etc., got my attention. The Post pays megabucks to know exactly how to carry out its propaganda, who will read what sections and when, to produce the greatest impact. Its "Free for All" section is not exactly Page One
coverage, is it ?

Lying b*st*rds. As my bumper sticker says, "I don't trust the Washington Post"
11 posted on 11/04/2003 8:01:43 AM PST by EDINVA
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To: sultan88; MeeknMing; bert
"Sop, both the principles in this story, Meekin and Kay, have stated that Gellman's article in the Post was erroneous. Let's see if the Post corrects the mistake soon."

HA!!
Why you dreamer, you. {g}
Hey bert!!
Another sense of humor on a par with yours. :o)

In this day & age of form over substance Sultan, it's the *accusation* that matters; &, what'll *stick*.
So in that sense I guess it's, "Mission Accomplished."

As for this WP *ombudsman*?
Personally I'd recoomend anyone with a lust for life stay the hell away from a guy like that outa a very real fear of errant lightening strikes or -- what could only be described as -- a clear case of spontaneous combustion.

That the Compost heap would do this doesn't surprise me one bit, I hate to have to say.
Been *tracking* the Liberal-Socialist sycophant quislings scurring around the nation's mediot nests too long to be moved a'tall by what's tantamount to a "Rather" ordinary & very pedestrian Liberal-Socialist attempt at distorting the truth.

The WP is infected with the same disease as the NYSlimes, SeeBS et al.
There's really only one way to deal with these lying, shameless outfits & that's the way G.Gordon Liddy does.
With a buzzer for censoring each & everytime an offending name must be uttered.

I'm just grateful this had nothing to do with FR's favorite son.

...MeeknMing! :o)

12 posted on 11/04/2003 8:12:30 AM PST by Landru
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To: JohnHuang2
Media Has Blood On Its' Hands, Iraq GI Tells Rep.King
Newsmax.com ^ | October 29, 2003 | Newsmax.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1010199/posts
13 posted on 11/04/2003 8:30:03 AM PST by Matchett-PI (Why do America's enemies desperately want DemocRATS back in power?)
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To: JohnHuang2
Transcript from my videotape of Fox News Channel, Tuesday morning (between 10 and 11 AM) 10-28-03 (I neglected to get the name of the host, and didn't get the first part of the interview taped).

Guest for the interview: Bernard Kerik, Former NY City Police Commissioner and Former Iraq Security Advisor [recently returned from Iraq].

Videotape picks up here:

Kerik: "...they need to start the recruiting and training of more Iraqi police [garbled]....we have to add another 30,000 cops. We have to build up the civil defense force, and the Iraqi intelligence agencies."

Host: "And those cops, although they were sitting ducks, in some regard, in those attacks this weekend, I mean, a guy in a police car wearing a police uniform, ah, set off a homicide bomb there, they have been effective though, in protecting and preventing some of these bomb attacks."

Kerik: "They've been extremely effective in knocking down every day [garbled], but also fighting the Fedayeen and identifying the Baathists. They are the ones that can do that. You know, adding more US coalition troops or international coalition troops--we're not going to find the Fedayeen or the Baathists using outsiders.
A lot of these attacks now, I think, are coming from the outside. We have to make sure we can identify, locate and kill those people or capture them. We're not gonna do that--the Iraqis can do it."

Host: "... let's go back to your initial point about criticism of the war, because Howard Dean .. I'm not looking to name any one particular candidate, but ever since Howard Dean came on the scene and started criticising president Bush's policies, it seems like a number of Democrats have sort of jumped onto that bandwagon. Now again, without pointing fingers at any one person, you say that that line of criticism is actually causing assaults."

Kerik: "Keep this in mind. Six months ago there was one television station in Iraq. There were two newspapers. There are 120 newspapers today. There is satellite TV. They never had that before. They watch everything we watch. They see the frustration. They see the political criticism. The senior deputy Minister of the Interior called me when he knew I was going to see the president and he said, "Please tell the president to tell these people to stop criticising Iraq. He thinks it works like Iraq.

Host: "It doesn't work that way in our countr.."

Kerik, interrupting: "It doesn't work that way, we can't do that. However it's having a major impact, and a major toll on what's going on there. Because the Baathists, Fedayeen Saddam, Ansar al-Islam, al Qaeda--those people see what's going on and they think if they enhance the attacks, then they will win and we will pull out."

Host: "Well, they are stepping up in frequency and in severity the number of attacks that ..."

Kerik interrupting: " [garbled] we want to see freedom grow in Iraq, I think if we don't knock off the criticism--we don't get them the money they need--I think the attacks will grow."

Host: "Six months from now what do you think?"

Kerik: "If they get the money they need, I think in six months we'll have another 9, 10, 11,000 cops, I think they'll be more security--I think there will be less attacks, ah, but we'll have to wait and see."

Host: "Bernard Kerik, former New York City Police Commissioner, thanks for being with us."

Kerik: "Thank you."
14 posted on 11/04/2003 8:33:32 AM PST by Matchett-PI (Why do America's enemies desperately want DemocRATS back in power?)
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To: Landru
hehehe ! Howdy, friend !

Speakin' of SeeBS ...

That is from Freeper 'Autoresponder'.


15 posted on 11/04/2003 8:47:31 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (Check out the Texas Chicken D 'RATS!: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/keyword/Redistricting)
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To: woodyinscc
It'll be intriguing if the Washington Post doesn't at least measure up to the NYTimes pitiful level of professional journalism. The Times fired their make-stuff-up dude.
16 posted on 11/04/2003 9:50:36 AM PST by savedbygrace
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To: savedbygrace
This should be bumped up all week.
17 posted on 11/04/2003 2:16:22 PM PST by Tribune7 (It's not like he let his secretary drown in his car or something.)
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To: Temple Owl
ping
18 posted on 11/04/2003 2:17:00 PM PST by Tribune7 (It's not like he let his secretary drown in his car or something.)
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