New York Times Reports Half The Story in Afghanistan
Rory Cooper /
On today’s front page, the New York Times goes to every effort to recreate the narrative of Mai-Lai in Vietnam, only this time in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, they do so with only half the story. This much we think we know: One night last week, American forces in the middle of a drawn out battle with insurgent Taliban forces, launched an aerial attack on enemy targets. It appears many civilians were killed during the battle.
Here is what we, and the New York Times, do not know: We do not know if Taliban forces manipulated the battle to achieve this exact public relations result, knowing they have no regard for the Afghan people. Or what targets the Taliban bombed themselves. We do not know at what point Taliban fighters left the area, if they left at all. And we do not know the specific intelligence that led to this assault.