Thursday,
September 29
SULLIVAN'S SOURCE: Andrew Sullivan's recent reporting
on the treatment of Capt. Ian Fishback may indeed be accurate.
However, I have some substantial reservations about this part
of Sullivan's
post from yesterday:
RUMSFELD
WANTS HIM BROKEN: Another source informs that the word is around
that Rumsfeld has taken a strong interest in this. He is quoted
as saying "Either break him or destroy him, and do it quickly."
And no doubt about it, that is just what they are doing.
The use of
quotation marks is serious business - doubly so when you're attributing
such explosive words directly to the Secretary of Defense. Sullivan,
a professional journalist by trade, has not only done just that,
he's done it using an anonymous source.
Questions:
Did Sullivan corroborate the quote? Did he even speak to the original
source? Or did he just reprint something he received via email?
Forgive me
if I'm skeptical of the caricature of Rumsfeld as a sinister man
intent on "breaking" and "detroying" one of
the solidiers under his command. If the quote is accurate Rumsfeld
should be condemned, but if it isn't then Sullivan is almost certainly
guilty of libeling the Secretary of Defense.
Doesn't Sullivan
owe his readers a bit more information about the credibility of
the source he's chosen to rely on to publish a direct quote from
Rumsfeld? - T. Bevan 11:45 am Link
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