President Bush gave some details Thursday concerning foiled plots by al Qaeda to attack America, including one plan to fly a plane into the tallest building on the West Coast that was successfully averted. Unfortunately, those that rely on either The New York Times or The Washington Post for their news might have missed these revelations, for this story was curiously not placed on the front page of either of these papers.
The New York Times strategically placed its article on this subject on page A22. Times’ editors must have felt that more information about what the administration knew concerning the levees in New Orleans before Katrina hit, warnings on ADHD drugs, how Haiti elections are shaping up, a resignation at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, security issues at America’s borders, and how magazines use numbers on their covers to tantalize consumers were more important than America foiling al Qaeda attacks.
As for The Washington Post, its article, “Bush Details 2002 Plot to Attack L.A. Tower; Intelligence Officials Play Down Importance of Case, Attribute Remarks to Politics,” was on A4. The Post’s editors must have felt that a warning on ADHD drugs, potentially “faulty” data on Iraq, professional basketball in Iran, and teenage bank robbers in Maryland were more important than America being protected from terrorist attacks.
How thoroughly disgraceful.