Yeah, and Charles Manson said he was God
: I have a bone to pick with today’s New York Times front page. It presents the words of Saddam Hussein in his interrogation as if they had any possible credibility. Says the head:
Hussein Tells Interrogators
He didn’t Direct Insurgency
Also Denies That Iraq Possessed Illicit Weapons
Well, put that next to a picture of the vermin-infested, crazy-eyed, pathologically lying mass murdered, willya?
A little perspective, please. This is treated as if what he says is news for its own sake. Oh, it’s news — but more as gossip, as the rantings of the sleep- and soap-starved lunatic leader.
Five graphs down, the Times does say that “intelligence and military officials still said they were discounting much of the little information that Mr. Hussein had offered so far.” But that’s not good enough. That’s a big “of course!”
The story and headline are simply written the wrong way. It should be more of a view of what’s happening in this interrogation and what lunacy he’s spewing, not as quotes from a credible national leaders.
Newspapers all have a problem dealing with lunatics; in print, the quotes of saints and madmen all come out in black-and-white. Sometimes, it is necessary to put a little color around that. Even saying, “After the deposed leader was deloused, he said…” would help.
