NYT: Al-Sadr's Flight From Iraq "would create a vacuum that could allow even more radical elements of the Shiite group to take power"

Hah, hah, hah.

Well played, NYT. Very well played.

Actually this isn't quite as stupid as it first reads. At least according to other MSM sources, Al-Sadr is criticized by his even more bloody-minded jihadist brethren for at least pretending to have some interest in political outcomes.

Still, it's a pretty stupidly negative spin -- it's like saying "Hitler's suicide may allow even more extremist Nazis to take power." Well, I suppose so; other Nazis were more willing to sign documents authorizing the Holocaust. But Hitler was the guy who held the whole thing together, and his departure from earth was a win for pretty much everyone.

So, yeah: Al-Sadr's cowardly flight may permit less crafty, less popular, less influential, less capable leaders to take his place, leaders eager to show the world just how satanically murderous they are without even the pretense of rationality.

Only the New York Times can spin such a possibility into a losing scenario for the US.

Oh -- and the headline identifies him only as a "Powerful Cleric." And doesn't even name him. So someone just skimming the headlines won't notice the sanguinary news.

The way they... surround a story.

Thanks to JeffreyH.

Question: Why hasn't this story even appeared on Drudge?

That's what an ex-blogger wants to know (for some reason, he wants his name withheld; what, he's afraid of Drudge?).

But it's a good question. It's big news, and certainly Drudge has hyped stories of lesser import with even less sourcing.

Did he just miss it? Or did I miss his linking to the story?

I would accuse him of deliberately ignoring blogger stories, except this really isn't a blogger story; it's been on CNN, ABC, and now the NYT (and I presume most other outlets have reported it as well).

The importance of Drudge is his ability to force a story the MSM doesn't want to cover very hard on to the front-burner. While the MSM is, indeed, reporting on this, it's not being played up very hard, and I'd have to think that a lot of people haven't read it. So why isn't Drudge doing his duty as media gatecrasher here?

posted by Ace at 05:18 PM

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