NY Times Apologizes for One of Its Reporters Believing Guantanamo Cruel and Misguided
After printing this article, the New York Times ran this editorial comment:
"A front-page article on Tuesday described the problems of the tribunals at the American military base in Guantánamo, as
seen through the failure to resolve the case of Abdul Razzaq Hekmati, an Afghan war hero who died there Dec. 30 after a
five-year-long detention. The article quoted several Afghan officials who said they were prepared to offer evidence that
he was falsely accused, but were never given a chance to do so.
"Andy Worthington, a freelance journalist who worked on the article under contract with The New York Times and was
listed as its co-author, did some of the initial reporting but was not involved in all of it, and The Times verified the
information he provided. That included the fact of Mr. Hekmati's death, and the content of transcripts released by the
Pentagon showing that the accusations against Mr. Hekmati had been made by unidentified sources and that the tribunal at
Guantánamo had never called outside witnesses requested by detainees.
"Mr. Worthington has written a book, "The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal
Prison," in which he takes the position that Guantánamo is part of what he describes as a cruel and misguided response
by the Bush administration to the Sept. 11 attacks. He has also expressed strong criticism of Guantánamo in articles
published elsewhere.
"The editors were not aware of Mr. Worthington's outspoken position on Guantánamo. They should have described his
contribution to the reporting instead of listing him as co-author, and noted that he had a point of view."
You can find this and comment on it on the author's website at: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/?p=220
Apparently the Times also demanded that the author reword a post on his website that linked to the article: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/?p=217
But his original post survived at: http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=23261
I'm so glad the Times is protecting us from points of view. I only wish they could have protected us from the point of
view that Bush and Cheney and Powell's pre-war claims were credible.
ENDS
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David Swanson is an organizer of the www.AfterDowningStreet.org coalition.