NYT Downplays Al Qaeda Use of Mentally Impaired Suicide Bombers

Photo of Tom Blumer.

Yesterday, NewsBusters' Kyle Drennan noted how CBS used the news of two coordinated and related suicide bombings in Baghdad to declare that "the new Baghdad feels a lot like the old Baghdad," and as a platform for a far-left guest to declare that "the surge isn't working."

Drennan's first commenter noted the mentally impaired state of the women who blew themselves up -- something CBS "somehow" failed to report.

CBS was not alone in ignoring or downplaying that important aspect of the story, as blogger Confederate Yankee reports (links are in his original; bold is mine):

Two suicide attacks on pet markets in Baghdad today have left approximately 100 killed and twice as many wounded. Both attacks used women "with Down's syndrome" according the the Daily Mail and less specifically, they were described as "mentally disabled" according to CNN.

Both bombs appear to have been remote detonated. These women probably did not know they were carrying explosives at all, and it would probably be fair to include them among the victims.

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The ever-objective, ever-unbiased New York Times saw fit to exclude the horrific detail of their alleged mental disabilities from their reporting of the day's massacre. It might upset their readers, and cause some confusion over who the real enemy in Iraq is (George Bush).

Confederate Yankee updated his post to note that the Times later appended coverage of the mental status of the women. The Times's tone is clearly designed to cause readers to be skeptical (bolds are mine):

Iraq’s chief military spokesman in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, told The Associated Press that the bombers were mentally impaired.

Other officials made similar claims. Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem al-Ezzi, a senior officer in the Ministry of Interior police commandos, said officials at the Ghazil market concluded after studying the bomber’s severed head that she had Down syndrome. But Iraqi officials have made similar claims in the past, and it was not immediately clear whether the bomber’s head could have been distorted by the blast.

..... One witness, Mohammed Qasem, 35, a vendor at Ghazil, said he saw the woman minutes before the explosion, apparently behaving normally.

A shorter story at the International Herald-Tribune, a Times sister publication, makes no mention of the suicide bombers' mental conditions.

Confederate Yankee also cites other possible implications of the attacks:

First, it tells us that al Qaeda in Iraq recognizes that attempts to use male suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), their preferred method of suicide attacks for those seeking martyrdom, are no longer effective. ..... There is also some speculation that the influx of would-be foreign suicide bombers into Iraq is drying up.

Today's attacks also tell us that al Qaeda in Iraq is getting very desperate in seeking the high-casualty attacks that they so value. They were forced to scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel, and use not only women (which they'd prefer to subjugate), but mentally disabled women at that, suggesting that finding willing volunteers is becoming ever more difficult.

Don't expect to find any alleged "expert" analysts at the Times raising Confederate Yankee's excellent points any time soon.

In totally related news, the New York Times Company (symbol NYT) reported Thursday that, though it turned a profit in its fourth quarter, December revenues declined a heart-stopping 22.4%.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.

—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters


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I sure the NYT has its fill

I sure the NYT has its fill of the mentally impaired.

They are putting bomb sniffing dogs in each office. 

 

Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party,the party left me.

Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.

→ USA

I think those are "bum sniffing" dogs, and they're really just cub reporters.

♣ a seal

The only solution for a

The only solution for a group that would do this is to track them all down and kill them. Doesn't matter how many there are. Hoping for Justice.

Al Qaeda or the New York Times?

"The only solution for a group that would do this is to track
them all down and kill them."

Are you referring to Al Qaeda or the New York Times?

Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.

The NYT is unbelievable. Maybe the bombs distorted their faces??

How outrageous. It's amazing how much liberals have to go through to justify their positions.

The worst part of the NYT report is this

"One witness, Mohammed Qasem, 35, a vendor at Ghazil, said he saw the woman minutes before the explosion, apparently behaving normally." Think about this. The NYT is trying to make us believe that if a witness thought that the women were behaving normally just minutes before the explosion, then they were not mentally retarded!!!

How many "normal" people would not be showing nervousness, waryness, or exhibiting some other atypical behavior minutes before they detonated their bomb that would kill them and many others? You would have to be one cool customer to be absolutely normal under these conditions. In fact, a person would certainly be scanning the crowd to make sure he/she wasn't caught by security guards. So the fact that these women acted normally is actually more evidence that they had no clue on what was about to happen.

Come-on. Even the NYT should be able to figure this one out.

___________________________________ 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

This was an awful attack

I agree the msm does not report good news as quickly as it does bad but this disgusting act deserves all the media attention it gets. Over 100 people were murdered and most of the news networks acknowledged that this as new low even for Al Queda.

If this happenned in the United States, it would be on every news network for months. Here are a few clips from the NYT article

"The blasts, coming after a marked drop in violence in Baghdad after the
infusion of American troops into the capital and a shift by Sunni
tribes against the insurgency "

"Officials said insurgents had shifted tactics, because increased
checkpoints and roadblocks have made it harder to detonate the car
bombs that killed much larger numbers of people in the past. "

"Iraqi security officials said the women were mentally disabled, but offered no conclusive evidence."

 

"Attacks have fallen 60 percent across the country since June."

“Their car bomb capabilities have been badly disrupted so now, as we
saw today and as we’ve seen for some time, they are moving toward
suicide vests, in this case suicide vests worn by women"

“If the Americans withdraw it will definitely affect things,” he added. “It would be a disaster for Iraq.”

"officials at the Ghazil market concluded after studying the bomber’s severed head that she had Down syndrome. "

I realize that some of the article has been appended but I imagine most of it is in its original form. The NYT acknowledged that attacks are down, car bomb capablilities badly disrupted. Yes the NYT can have a liberal bias, but this article was fair and balanced.

Hillary has a friend

Shawn - he didn't say there was anything wrong with reporting

the bombings. What's wrong is their omission of the fact that they used mentally handicapped women to do it. Then after they revise and mention it they try to imply that the Iraqi officials are embellishing. It's despicable.

Dee Bunk

I did not see implication that anyone said the Iraqis are embellishing the down syndrome. This thread implies that the objective of the NYT article is to tell people the surge is not working, but the article clearly says attacks are down and things have improved until this terrible tragedy

Hillary has a friend

Shawn -you must not have read it. Tom's post is all about

the NYT downplaying the women's mental state. Thus the title "NYT Downplays Al Qaeda Use of Mentally Impaired Suicide Bombers"

I don't know where you got the idea that this was about reporting the bombings or that they shouldn't have reported them. It completely escapes me.

"CBS used the news of two

"CBS used the news of two coordinated and related suicide bombings in
Baghdad to declare that "the new Baghdad feels a lot like the old
Baghdad," and as a platform for a far-left guest to declare that "the
Surge isn't working."

 

"Confederate Yankee also cites other possible implications of the attacks:

First, it tells us that al Qaeda in Iraq recognizes that
attempts to use male suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised
explosive devices (VBIEDs), their preferred method of suicide attacks
for those seeking martyrdom, are no longer effective. ..... There is
also some speculation that the influx of would-be foreign suicide
bombers into Iraq is drying up.

Today's attacks also tell us that al Qaeda in Iraq is getting
very desperate in seeking the high-casualty attacks that they so value.
They were forced to scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel, and use
not only women (which they'd prefer to subjugate), but mentally
disabled women at that, suggesting that finding willing volunteers is
becoming ever more difficult.

Don't expect to find any alleged "expert" analysts at the Times raising Confederate Yankee's excellent points any time soon."

The author is clearly implying the leftist NYT are implying the surge is not working and he is also saying Confederate Yankee is much more fair and balanced because saying suicide bombers are drying up and it is finding volunteers more difficult. The NYT does address this issue and it is overlooked by the author of this thread

Hillary has a friend

Shawn - he referred to a NB article from yesterday that

complained how the CBS report implied that the surge wasn't working and then said in addition to those type of reports, we also have reports that downplay the mental status. Tom's article clearly has a focus on the NYT ignoring and then minimizing the womens mental state.

So why don't you address the main point of the post?

I have dee bunk

I have addressed the point dee bunk. I do not see where the NYT downplays it and I also said most news networks find this is a new low even for Al Queda. I was just pointing out other aspects of this article.

"Suck it"

Pop Tech

Shawn - the NYT left the mental status completeley out

of their first report - you don't see that as downplaying? Then their sister publication also left that fact completely out. Their revised copy included language that was skeptical and clearly meant to question whether they were actually mentally handicapped.

"But Iraqi officials have made similar claims in the past, and it was not immediately clear whether the bomber’s head could have been distorted by the blast."

It clearly seems like they want to give Al Queda the benefit of the doubt.

Dee and Shawn

as compared to how they presented Murtha's 'facts' (lies) on Hadditha and their own 'factual' reporting the NYT shows it's stripes

Supreme Court,  National Security,  Borders,  Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.

That is exactly the point Bruce. If the NYT treated all sides

with that level of skepticism then it would be a different story. Every wild accusation that blames the U.S. is treated as fact yet clear atrocities by Al Queda are given explanations. They offer a wild explanation that two down syndrome faces could have been caused by the bombs despite hundreds of other suicide bombers whose faces didn't exhibit those characteristics.

true Dee

it's why i posted

Supreme Court,  National Security,  Borders,  Fiscal Restraint, my litmus test for President.

dee bunk

"It clearly seems like they want to give Al Queda the benefit of the doubt."

Sigh, I believe that a gross exageration, but I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

"Suck it"

Pop Tech

funny how the nyt is so quick to blame the us for anything

isn't funny how the finger of blame is immediately cast upon the us for any discrepancy be it fact or fiction and no matter how miniscule it might be, and the mere existance of the us is deemed a threat to all mankind, but something as aggregious as this is hardly even aknowledged and all but ignored. when and what are we going to do to start the push to send the nyt and it's clones to the relevence of a used piece of toilet paper floating in the bowl. why do we continue to let this kind of public opinion of self hating, we deserve it, it's all our fault, we are the evil ones, perpetuate with lies, rumor, and innuendo to such a level unchallenged. why isn't there a broadly published newspaper that challenges the nyt but publishes facts and truth and is uplifting as to how the us is a leader in advancement of the world instead of derogatory end to civilization. god i wish i had the money cause i'd make it happen. i'd bet it'd bring the newspaper back into a profitable business again instead of how they are all struggling to survive now. why don't we push hard to remove them from our society like a cancerous tumor. just stand up against them and provide an aleternative against them, is there anyone out there willing to try. 

lunaticcringeradio

NYT "but offered no conclusive evidence."

Since when has the NYT let this "but offered no conclusive evidence." stop them from putting up their own Iraq Reports ?

It's the NYTimes saying the Enemy's use of "Retards" was not conclusive.....but if the US Military had even a Rumor of a soldier hurting/using a "Retard" the NYT would never print the words "no conclusive evidence" as they rush it to the front page. 

Point Well Taken

I don't think the New York Times ever used the words "no conclusive evidence" when referring to Abu Ghrab, Hadiffa, Guantanemo Bay or FISA.

Their motto should be: "Give our enemies the benefit of the doubt"

JT -- I'm sure you didn't

JT -- I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt ... but could you refrain from using the word "retard" to describe folsk who were born with a genetic difference to most of us.

I think that could be very hurtful to all those parents who have children with Downs Syndrome, whom they love very much.

Thanks.

Check out my exclusive edit of BBC News America's interview with Mrs Clinton: It's news to me!

Retarded

I do have to second that.  The word you used has a perjorative connotation. I stopped listening to Howard Stern because of his repeated use of that word.

There is no conclusive evidence ... that I meant to offend

I shan't use the un-mentionable again.  Some Terms are interpreted differently by different people.       

 

Carriers Squeezed at NYTimes

In totally related news, the New York Times Company (symbol NYT)
reported Thursday that, though it turned a profit in its fourth
quarter, December revenues declined a heart-stopping 22.4%.

In an act of self-preservation, the NYT apparently axed their fact-checking and research departments. There may be deeper cuts still to come. Some say Times paper carriers and street venders are next, they'll have commissions cut by as much as 25% (10 cents), and it's predicted many will then be forced into the poverty line at soup kitchens.

So goes the war on the news.

Save the Environment - Stop Printing the Times

In other news publisher "Pinch" Sulzberger steadfastly refused to cease print operations of the Times, despite the fact that the print editon leads to forest defoliation.  The reduction of trees, reducing the ability of the earth to absorb carbon dioxide.

Some say the Times, with its bloated and largely irrelevant Sunday Edition is contributing to Global Warming and greenhouse gasses (no thats not Linda Greenhouse).

Those of us at Newsbusters should join a campaign to get the Times to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by dropping its print edition in the interests of our environment.

→ allanf

I think old newspaper has a valid use for fishmongers.

Carpslingers could be out of work.

♣ a seal

Bird Cage Liner

Would you really want to subject a littter box, bird cage or fresh fish to those rantings?

I say to any liberal, save the environment, stop the print edition of the New York Times. Surely if McCain-Feingold can restrict political speech, then the print edition of the New York Times can be banned to save our environment.

I disagree

http://www.nlm.nih.g...

The term retard, ie short for retardation is correct in discribing someone with below average intelligence or motor function. See link above. It also includes an accurate discription of someone who has down syndrome. Simply because some people (usually children) use the term "retard" as a put down DOES not change the meaning of the word. Don't fall into the lib trap of not liking certain words and trying to remove them from the language.

Interesting semantic point

The removal of a word from the lexicon for reasons of unpleasant connotation is certainly not warranted. Of course, a tactic of the left is to warp the meaning of language itself by focusing on connotation (as opposed to denotation) in order to achieve ideological objectives. I can give you a good example. In a terrorism class, I fell into an argument with a leftist about the plausibility of the concept "domestic terrorism," in the sense of women being terrorized by men in the home. I rebutted that the term "domestic abuse" covered the concept adequately, and that there was no need to use the term "terrorism" simply because it has a greater emotional impact than abuse. In addition, I argued that the the term "domestic terrorism" (which, displaying her ignorance, was already a term for terrorism perpetrated on domestic soil by native citizens) distorted the precise meaning of "terrorism." The source of her error, I pointed out, was that she was conflating connotation (emotional content) with denotation (strict definition). I won't go further into the argument, but the point is that this is a trademark problem with the left. Your point is well-taken.

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. - Marcus Aurelius

→ I disagree too

The term "retard" is a verb.  "retard or advance the timing to promote smooth engine performance"

To refer to a "retarded" person as a "retard" is slang.  The same as "amp" is slang for "amputee", and homo is slang for homosexual.

Retard v. is not short for ""retardation" n.  Rather retardation is a derivative of retard.

♣ a seal

OK guys...I'll switch ....no more retardation

I can make linguistical changes to keep from Offending my Fellow NB'ers. 

But I still think Suicide Bombers regardless of IQ Mensa ratings are Dumb SOB's.

So Al-Queda is running out

So Al-Queda is running out of suicidal nut-jobs and now they're taking the innocent? Where's the outrage NYT? You spend more time demonizing Bush than expressing ANY concern about terrorists.

There IS a special place in

There IS a special place in the sub-basement of Hell for these people ... For the terrorists (AQ) too.

The kidnapping and luring/tricking of the DS and mentally retarded is not uncommon over there.  Recall during the Iraqi election in 2005 they did this to a 19 yr. old DS boy.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/01/1107228705132.html

And I am hearing/reading from troops who were in the zone(s), especially on check points, that they have seen this all too often.  Some they have been able to safely stop and save ... others either detonated or had to "be stopped" ... Breaks their hearts because our troops know these mentally retarded people are really innocent victims too.

Anyhow, if you're looking for the compassionate angle from the liberal/left MSM on this, don't ... They are in the mindset that the mentally retarded should be killed while in the womb, or quickly after birth ...

i think the media needs to

i think the media needs to take out the term "suicide" in their description of the bombing.  These women did not commit suicide they were murdered like the rest of the victims. 

Great point

I suggest "unwittingly co-opted bombers," but someone else can do better.

The drive by media in

The drive by media in general and the NYT in particular outrageously ignore another in a series of heinous acts on the part of the middle east terrorist. 

Lest we forget, the NYT put the acts of a few rogue US soldiers putting underwear on prisoners' heads on their front page above the fold for over forty days.   

Whenever I am in a room where there is a TV with one of the news broadcasts from one of the drive by channels, I turn it to another channel or I turn it off.  Whenever I see a copy of the NYT laying around the office, it gets chucked in the trash can where it belongs. 

These people should be run out of business - the sooner the better.   

Comparison with Abu Ghraib

Glad you brought that back up. Forty days of coverage for what appeared to be depraved shenanigans by some misguided American GIs seems cosmically out of proportion with the coverage of the sheer evil that our America's enemies perpetrate on an almost daily basis. Using mentally disabled women as guidance systems for remote bombs certainly seems infinitely more wicked and evil than Abu Ghraib, but of course, since when did the liberal press have a sense of proportion and perspective?

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. - Marcus Aurelius

Dumb bomb

In the first place anyone that straps a bomb to themselves, places it in their car, buries it under a road or otherwise targets the explosive device towards civilians can't be playing with a full deck to start with.  That leads me to assume that all suicide(?) bombers are mentally impaired to some degree in one form or another.

What gripes my ass is that in the blatant and obvious pursuit of political/ideological ambitions the demedia seeks to deflect criticism from those that engage in the bombings of innocents to the Bush Administration and their policy.  I wonder if the NY Times would be so interested in questioning their own policies if a bomber walked into their office and detonated an explosive device?   Somehow, I doubt that would be the case. 

In doing so the demedia becomes as much an enabler of such senseless, distructive acts as those directing the implementation of these despicable, inhumane missions.

What a peaceful world it could be if the media would unite and speak out against such barbaric actions rather than hand-wringing and/or second-guessing about motivation.  There is no motivation worthy nor valid reason to justify the actions of an individual or a group of individuals that engage in such bombings.  Not even those that are mentally impaired such as the bombers and their enablers afflicted with Bush Derangement Syndrome as the demedia demonstrates on a near daily basis.

If the NY Times and the rest of the demedia were truly appalled at the situation in Baghdad it seems practical that they would start condemning those that are making Baghdad and much of the rest of the Middle East an inhospitable place rather than attacking those that are trying to improve the region.  It is obvious by the demedia's reporting that they have as little regard for the lives of innocent Iraqis as the bombers they consistenty provide excuses for. 

acumen... Here!

acumen...

Here! Here!

Excellent...

I love your demedia reference...fits perfectly.

Great last paragraph...

You very eloquently sum up what has certainly been borne out in the course of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - that the media has shown utter disregard for the lives of the people the soldiers (I had almost said we) are fighting to protect. Their reckless abandon to condemn Bush has revealed that their ideological disposition (socialism) is one that very lowly apprizes human life and the quality thereof. Great way to distill this down.

 

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. - Marcus Aurelius

Willful blindness

First of all, this sort of sick use of women as "suicide" bombers is part of the al Qaeda terrorist playbook. In fact, women suicide bombers are commonly blackmailed into the horrific act by terrorists who hold their children under threat of death. But of course, since it is "culturally insensitive" to give credence to the idea that people who blow up women and children on public streetcorners would ever commit such an atrocious act as discriminating against women, predictably, the NYT, by virtue of its pristine ideology, cannot in good conscious report it . Of course, this would only give aid and succor to the enemy, in the NYTimes' eyes, the American soldier.

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. - Marcus Aurelius

Complaining to Clark Hoyt, Omsbudsman

The reporters in this report did a good job of CYA.  It is almost subliminal bias.

 On the first read it is hard to find something to complain to the omsbudsman.

 The women are not called suicide bombers.  The term "suicide bombers" is not used.  They quote Ambassador Crocker and U.S. military about "suicide vests."

They quote a witness indicating stating that one of the bombers had a young boy with her.

They do not have anything about the story in other newspapers that one of the bombers was a woman suffering from Down's syndrome who had a stall in the market.

They have nothing in the story about the bombs being detonated remotely.  That would support the story that the women  were suffering from Down's syndrome.

The cynic in me says that the NYT will not follow up to find out if either of the bombers were suffering from Down's syndrome.

Thousands of hours and hundreds of pages investigating Abu Ghraib prison  and Haditha, but I predict not another paragraph following up on the issues of remote dentonation or Down's syndrome.

From the point of view of the NYT's editors, the purpose of the story is to show that the surge is not working.  They have no interest in evidence that al Qaeda unconscionably uses the handicapped.