Except the the 60 Minutes story was debunked.
Republicans also gave bogus emails to the media about the Obama administrations handing of Benghazi.
CBS News reported Thursday that leaked versions sent out by the GOP last Friday had visible differences than Wednesday's official batch. Two correspondences that were singled out in the report came from National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
The GOP version of Rhodes' comment, according to CBS News: "We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don't want to undermine the FBI investigation."
The White House email: "We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation."
The GOP version of Nuland's comment, according to CBS News: The penultimate point is a paragraph talking about all the previous warnings provided by the Agency (CIA) about al-Qaeda's presence and activities of al-Qaeda."
The White House email: "The penultimate point could be abused by members to beat the State Department for not paying attention to Agency warnings."
The death of Ambassador Chris Stevens is tragic. I think questions should be asked about the security at Benghazi. Unfortunately, the Republicans lack seriousness on security issues. You don't release false emails to the media if you are serious about national security.
Lara Logan interviews Dereck and Beverly Joubert for 60 Minutes. The couple have been filming lions in Africa for decades. The Jouberts documentaries have changed the way scientists think about lion behavior.
I attended the Lara Logan lecture at USF tonight. I was in agreement with Logan that Pakistan is not ally to the United States. Logan is convinced that the ISI knew Osama bin Laden's whereabouts. Bin Laden wasn't hiding in a cave. He was in a comfy compound near a military academy. This is like Timothy McVeigh going into hiding near West Point.
I asked Logan why the United States, under the past two administration's, have giving money to the Pakistani government. The United States has become the ATM machine for a corrupt regime. Logan told me that was a good question. She has asked several government officials and they all told her that Pakistan has to be paid off because it is a nuclear power. Never mind that the Pakistan and Taliban run joint military operations against the U.S. military. Or that the Pakistan aid money is used to buy the Taliban IEDs and assaust rifles.
Logan said she doesn't buy any of the arguments for providing aid to the Pakistani government. Logan used the analogy that if this a dating relationship there would have been a break-up a long time ago. Logan pointed out the blame for staying in this dysfunctional relationship with Pakistan resides with policymakers with no understanding or real accountability with the lives of soldiers they sacrifice.
I also asked Logan why the Republican presidential candidates can only discuss Israel and Iran. Do they only have a map with two countries or are they too dense to know of other countries in crisis. I cited Syria and Sudan as two example.
Logan's description of the GOP candidates was hysterical. Logan described Mitt Romney as a member of "a cult." Logan mentioned that Rick Santorum used to bring a model fetus on the floor of the Senate. She said even Republicans don't want Gingrich.
Logan made a slight dig at bloggers earlier in the lecture. I mentioned that I was a blogger.
Logan: Your not living in your mother's basement.
Hussey: And I'm not wearing pajamas.
One young man made the mistake of getting on Logan's bad side with a WikiLeaks question and left the microphone with his tail between his legs. Logan feels strongly that WikiLeaks got an Afghan man killed.
I hope there is video of Logan's lecture. It was fantastic.
“It had about 13 hours of interviews over two days with a gazillion al-Qaida and Arabic names thrown in there, and lots of nuance and it was very, very intense,” she said. “So when I jumped on the plane and rushed down to see a Michael Bublé concert in San Jose, it was sort of surreal. I remember when Michael walked up to me and said … ‘I hope you’re going to do a good interview.’ I said, ‘Listen, the last person I interviewed was a FBI agent and I made that f----- cry.’”
CBS News foreign correspondent Lara Logan will speak at the USF Marshall Center on April 3. The lecture is free. I would advise you to get there early to get a seat.
Logan has been one of the few journalists in American media to provide insights to the ugly side of war. This is a must see lecure.
University Lecture Series Presents Lara Logan When: April 3, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. Where: Marshall Student Center Ballroom, USF Tampa campus
The mother of journalist Marie Colvin, who died in a rocket attack in Syria, said her daughter was on the verge of leaving the city because it was so dangerous.
Rosemarie Colvin described her daughter as passionate about her work, even when it got extremely hard.
The 55-year-old Sunday Times reporter died alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, in a rocket attack on the besieged city of Homs this morning.
Logan believes that Colvin may have been targeted by the Syrian government. Colvin was reporting that the Syrian government was killing civilians with impunity.
For those wondering: Colvin lost her eye covering a war in Sri Lanka.
The Women Media Center bestowed the the 2011 Whole Truth award to journalist Lara Logan. WMC President Carol Jenkins interviews Logan about the award and the sexual assault she survived.
The Tea Party Nation is claiming CbS News is covering up the true intent of the Lara Logan sexual assault.
But in this singular Logan case we've seen both. First, only after news queries indicated the story was breaking did CBS on Tuesday release a brief rap sheet on the Friday crime. We were told of Logan's accidental separation from her crew in the crowd. The prolonged assault by over 200 people "whipped into a frenzy." The rescue by a group of women and 20 soldiers. What CBS didn't mention -- what was later attributed to an unnamed network source -- was that as the thugs assaulted the 39-year-old journalist and mother of two, they shouted, "Jew! Jew!"
The media is staying away from this story because the Ruport Murdoch-owned New York Post first reported this story. anti-Muslim bigot Pamela Geller ran wild with did this story on her blog. The rest of the conservative blogosphere quickly followed. Is there anti-semitism in the world. Yes. Is there a lot of it in the Middle East? Absolutely. Do Ruport Murdoch's media companies make stuff up. Hell yeah!
To show how sloppy the New York Post is they got Logan's personal life details wrong.
Before the attack, Logan -- who is based in Washington, where she lives with her 2-year-old daughter and husband -- had been set to return to the States sometime over the weekend to tape a "60 Minutes" segment on Wael Ghonim.
Logan's son Joseph is two years-old. Logan had a baby girl in 2010. The New York Post got the sex of her first-born child wrong. Considering how the conservative movement was saying Logan was somehow asking for her own rape it is sickening they are now using her pain to further their political agenda. Do conservatives really think Logan and CBS News feel a need to protect the people that committed this heinous crime? The more likely reaction is their pissed these savages will get away with what they done.
Logan was separated from her news and security crew for a lengthy period of time. The only person who knows what was and wasn't said by the attacker is Logan. We won't know what happened until Logan publicly talks about her ordeal. I don't expect Logan to share the worst moment of her life with the public.
Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit wrote this sick piece of garbage about Lara Logan's sexual assault.
Lara Logan is lucky she’s alive. Her liberal belief system almost got her killed on Friday. This talented reporter will never be the same.
Why did this attractive blonde female reporter wander into Tahrir Square last Friday? Why would she think this was a good idea? Did she not see the violence in the square the last three weeks? Did she not see the rock throwing? Did she miss the camels? Did her colleagues tell her about the Western journalists who were viciously assaulted on the Square? Did she forget about the taunts from the Egyptian thugs the day before? What was she thinking? Was it her political correctness that about got her killed? Did she think things would be different for her?
Lara Logan was asking for it because she is a liberal. What utter nonsense.
Jill Filipovic wrote about the Logan story at Feministe. A commenter shared her experience being repeatedly raped by her boyfriend. It is a heartbreaking read. I wasn't going to post it. After reading the internet attacks against Logan, I thought people should understand that rape can happen anywhere to anyone. Rape has nothing to do with political idealogy and everything to do with the violation of a human being.
The details are sketchy but this sound really bad. Earlier this month: Logan and her CBS News crew were detained and forced to leave Egypt. Logan told Charlie Rose that her Egyptian driver was badly beaten by the police. Logan still went back to cover the story of the Egyptian protests. That takes a tremendous amount of courage.
Logan and her CBS News crew were covering the Tahrir Square protests for a 60 Minutes story. A mob sepearated Logan from her crew. CBS News reports that Logan "suffered a brutal and sustained assault." Translation: Logan suffered the unspeakable terror of being gangraped.
A group of Egyptian woman came to Logan's rescue. Egyptian soldiers also helped get Logan away from the mob. There is no word on whether Logan's attackers were Mubarak supporters or pro-democracy protesters.
Logan is currently recovering from her injuries in the United States.
Side note: Logan talked to Esquire about being detained by the Egyptian army.
Update:Ann Friedman makes an excellent point that I didn't consider.
News broke today that CBS News correspondent Lara Logan “suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating” while she was covering the Egyptian protests in Tahrir Square. As Garance Franke-Ruta pointed out on Twitter, the fact that we’re hearing about this probably means that Logan was OK with making her assault public. This is an incredibly brave act, not just from a personal standpoint — she has come out as a sexual assault survivor — but also from a professional one.
CBS News foreign correspondent Lara Logan was detained by the Egyptian police. Logan and her crew were taken to the airport and expelled from Egypt. Charlie Rose interviewed Logan about Egypt and her detention. Logan makes it clear the protests were started by the people and not the Muslim Brotherhood.
Logan tells Rose that President Hosni Mubarak wants a journalism blackout. This will allow Mubarak to use the police and miltary to brutally crackdown on the protesters. President Barack Obama needs to speak out on behave for the safety of the protesters. America either supports free speech or it doesn't. It we don't speak out on behave of the Egyptian protesters then the United States will have no credibility speaking out on free speech and democratic reforms in the future. Iran and North Korea can throw our support for the Mubarak regime in our faces when we pressure those countries for democratic reforms.
Update: Logan explains to Rose that the protesters find Obama's half-hearted gestures of supporting democratic reform bullshit. The Egyptian government is pissed at Obama not not providing full support after all the help they provided the United States with fighting terrorism. Trianglation fails again.
Update: Logan tells Rose that her Egyptian driver was badly beaten in an interrogation room.
Joy-Ann Reid noticed something I didn't pick on in my post of Joe Sacrborough accusing John Boehner of spending more time in bars then working. Politico reporter Jim Vandehei ducked Scarborough's repeated questioning of if Boehner is a hard worker. Mark Halperin confirmed Scarborough's accusation that many Washington Republicans feels Boehner is lazy.
Politico then ran an attack article on Scarborough for his questioning of Vandehei. Politico reporter Jake Sherman ran a quote from Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel that Boehner only goes to Washington bars for fundraisers. Sherman didn't list the candidates Boehner fundraised for in Washington bars.Sherman ran no quotes from Republicans on or off-the-record about Boehner's work ethic. This was an opportunity for Sherman to find out if Scarborough is telling the truth. The only quote Sherman sought out was from Boehner's spokeman.
Sherman's last paragraph slaps down Scarborough for attacking Boehner.
Scarborough and Boehner served in the House together from 1995 to 2001. Scarborough owes at least some of his success to Boehner. The Ohio Republican played a key role in authoring the Contract With America, the 1994 GOP road map that helped bring Scarborough and a Republican majority to Washington.
How dare Scarborough diss Boehner's work ethic. Doesn't Scarborough realize he owes Boehner? Actually, Grover Norquist is responsible for the Contract With America. President Clinton failing to pass health care reform and the political climate in the country had more to do with Scarborough getting elected than Boehner.
To Politico, the story isn't that the House Minority Leader maybe lazy or has a drinking problem. Politico feels they must protect a powerful member of Congress. The same thing has happened with the media reaction to Michael Hastings' article on Gen. Stanley McChrystal. CBS News News foreign correspondent Lara Logan tells Howard Kurtz that the establishment media has a responsibility not to print anything embarrassing of people in power. I am serious.
KURTZ: When you are out with the troops and you're living together and sleeping together, is there an unspoken agreement --
LOGAN: Absolutely.
KURTZ: -- that you're not going to embarrass them by reporting insults and banter?
LOGAN: Yes.
KURTZ: Tell me about that.
LOGAN: Yes, absolutely. There is an element of trust.
And what I find is the most telling thing about what Michael Hastings said in your interview is that he talked about his manner as pretending to build an illusion of trust and, you know, he's laid out there what his game is. That is exactly the kind of damaging type of attitude that makes it difficult for reporters who are genuine about what they do, who don't -- I don't go around in my personal life pretending to be one thing and then being something else. I mean, I find it egregious that anyone would do that in their professional life.
And, I mean, I take that to the point of, even when I plan to interview someone about something difficult, and they want to know the areas of the interview, I might not say, well, we're going to spend the whole interview on this, but I will list that. I will list that controversial issue.
The banter between members of McChrystal's team showed their dysfunction, rowdy drunken behavior and their belief the mission in Afghanistan is failing. Logan believes the American people do not need to know McChrystal and members of President Obama's national security team are war against each other. This is why people do not know why the Afghanistan war is a mess. Logan fails to understand that her responsibility is to her viewers and not the military establishment. The media hero worship of McChrystal is so embarrassing. A classic example is Geraldo Rivera comparing McChrystal to Lou Gehrig. Really? Did McChrystal geraldo ever bat .379 in a season?
RIVERA: This reporter from "Rolling Stone", he was a rat in an eagle's nest. What he did was to become part of the background, part of the scenery, knowing full well, given his political ideology--
O'REILLY: All right, let's walk through.
RIVERA: --and everything else, his altitude, he knew what he wanted to do.
O'REILLY: Okay, I'm not disputing, look--
RIVERA: And I disagree with Chris Wallace. This was not a 280- hitter. General Stanley McCrystal is no 280-hitter. If General Petraeus is Babe Ruth, and I agree with that analogy, Stanley McCrystal is Lou Gehrig.
The Young Turrk has the clips of Logan and Rivera for defending McCrystal.
Arianna Huffington tells Ron Reagan of Air America that Vice-President Joe Biden should resign in protest of U.S. troop increases to Afghanistan. Biden's opposition to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's 40,000 troop request earned him a Newsweek cover story. There was a fascinating exchange in the White House.
Joe Biden had a question. During a long Sunday meeting with President Obama and top national-security advisers on Sept. 13, the VP interjected, "Can I just clarify a factual point? How much will we spend this year on Afghanistan?" Someone provided the figure: $65 billion. "And how much will we spend on Pakistan?" Another figure was supplied: $2.25 billion. "Well, by my calculations that's a 30-to-1 ratio in favor of Afghanistan. So I have a question. Al Qaeda is almost all in Pakistan, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. And yet for every dollar we're spending in Pakistan, we're spending $30 in Afghanistan. Does that make strategic sense?" The White House Situation Room fell silent. But the questions had their desired effect: those gathered began putting more thought into Pakistan as the key theater in the region.
U.S. forces have pushed al-Qaeda into Pakistan. CBS News cheir foreign correspondant Lara Logan said Afghanistan is the spiritual home of al-Qaeda. The Taliban is intent on taking back Afghanistan. The Taliban will allow al-Qaeda to set up safe havens in Afghanistan. Logan states the Afghanistan government is too unstable to fight al-Qaeda. The questions about President Hamid Karzai's future also cloud matters. Members of the White House, leaked to the media, that they have lost confidence in Karzai. So far, the White House has not called for Karzai to publicly step down.
Biden is right about Pakistan. The Swat Valley has become an international human rights crisis. The Pakistani people were divided over the Taliban. The cruelity displayed by the Taliban turned the Pakistani people. President Barack Obama just signed a $7.5 billion aid bill for Pakistan. What the longterm policy for Pakistan is uncertain. The United States is launching predator drone attacks on terrorist targets.
The issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan demand someone that is willing to challenge the President. Vice-President Biden will do a greater service to his country in office than out. Resigning out of protest would draw headlines. The move would be a one time ploy and Biden would have no voice on policy once he leaves.
Former Army Reserve lieutenant colonel Darrel J. Vandeveld served as a prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. Vandeveld was placed in charge of prosecuting Mohammed Jawad. Vandeveld discovered Jawad was likely tortured. Vandeveld became disillusioned and wanted to quit.
"How do I get myself out of this office?" Vandeveld asked Major David J.R. Frakt of the Air Force Reserve, who represented the young Afghan Vandeveld was prosecuting for an attack on U.S. soldiers -- despite Vandeveld's doubts about whether Mohammed Jawad would get a fair trial. Vandeveld said he was seeking a "practical way of extricating myself from this mess."
Last month, Vandeveld did just that, resigning from the Jawad case, the military commissions overall and, ultimately, active military duty. In doing so, he has become even more of a central figure in the "mess" he considers Guantanamo to be.
Vandeveld talked to Lara Logan about the Jawad case.
The Pakistani government attempted a cease-fire with the Taliban in Swat. The government gave in to the Taliban's demands to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley. The policy has been a disaster for women's rights. The Taliban has burned girl schools and beheaded people. Residents have fled to camps in Peshawar.
The Swat Valley Taliban's leader is Maulana Fazlullah. He started a pirate radio station in 2006. Fazlullah forbids Swat citizens from dancing and music. This was the message Fazlullah delivered to music centers.
"Close within three days – or you will be blown away".
Fazlullah forbid Swat residents from getting polo vaccinations. 160,000 children did not get vaccinations because Fazlullah claimed the vaccine causes impotency. Fazlullah's radio station started the rumor that the vaccine contained oestrogen. This was proven to be false.
"To cure a disease before its on set is not in accordance with Shariah’s laws," said Fazlullah. "I have never opposed Polio vaccination, but I say if the people are unwilling for it, they should not be forced. Keeping in mind if I say “No” to Polio Vaccination, you would not find a single child to drink a drop of it anywhere in Swat."
If Fazlullah didn't oppose polio vaccinations then why did he tell his listeners health care workers were part of "a conspiracy of the Jews and Christians to stunt the population growth of Muslims"? World Health Organisation were repeatedly assaulted and Fazlullah never once complained about their treatment. The reason is many of the attackers are part of Fazlullah militia.
In March, the Pakistani government agreed to another cease-fire with Fazlullah and his followers. Once again the cease-fire was broken. The Pakistani government continues to be in denial. Hillary Clinton said the Pakistani government was "basically abdicating to the Taliban." This is madness. The Taliban have militia elements in Buner. That places Taliban forces closer to Islamabad.
The move by Taliban-backed militants into the Buner district of northwestern Pakistan, closer than ever to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, have prompted concerns both within the country and abroad that the nuclear-armed nation of 165 million is on the verge of inexorable collapse.
On Wednesday a local Taliban militia crossed from the Swat Valley - where a February cease-fire allowed the implementation of strict Islamic, or Shari'a, law - into the neighboring Buner district, which is just a few hours drive from Islamabad (65 miles, separated by a mountain range, as the crow flies). ((See pictures on the frontlines in the battle against the Taliban.)
Residents streaming from Buner, home to nearly a million people, told local newspapers that armed militants are patrolling the streets. Pakistani television stations aired footage of Taliban soldiers looting government offices and capturing vehicles belonging to aid organizations and development projects. The police, say residents, are nowhere to be seen. The shrine of a local Muslim saint, venerated across the country, was closed. The Taliban, which adheres to a stricter version of Islam than is practiced in most of Pakistan, hold that worship at such shrines goes against the teachings of Islam.
The Obama administration needs to figure out what to do about Pakistan's nuclear weapons. South Korea or Iran isn't the big threat. Pakistan's government is going to fall. It is only a matter of when. The idea of nukes in Fazlullah's pocession is terrifying.
Update: Lara Logan has a story on the current crisis.
Lara Logan reports from a U.S. military base near the Pakistan border. Army soldiers have seen a spike in intense fighting. Many of the enemy combatants are foreigners and supported by a local tribal leader.
Side note: I worry about the pregnant Logan going to international trouble spots.
"But they're mostly from people who were declaring the war a quagmire after 15 minutes, and who peddled the bogus looting stories. Others are from more credible sources, but even those are hard to place in perspective. Europe and Japan looked pretty crappy for quite a while after World War II -- ordinary people were putting food on the table via prostitution for quite some time after the war, something now largely forgotten except for vague jokes about nylons and chocolate bars. Things aren't nearly that bad in Iraq."
Lara Logan describes her first time in Ramadi. Sewage was ankle-deep and children were eating moldy bread. Reynolds would call this media bias. Which makes me wonder what does Reynolds think living in a warzone is actually like?
Jon Stewart asks Lara Logan if she watches American news coverage of the Iraq and Afghanisthan wars.
"No," Logan said. "If I were to watch the news you hear in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would just drive me nuts."
Logan answers critics that make the silly accusation that her war coverage is hurting America.
Jon Stewart: Have we lost our humanity with the entire situation?
Lara Logan: Yeah, we have.
Logan: I was asked once, "Do you feel responsible for the American public having a bad view, a negative view about the war in Iraq." And I looked at the reporter and said, "Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier? What does that look like?" Who in America knows what that looks like because I know what that looks like. And I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does. That's what I feel responsible for that nobody really understands.
Logan: And the soldiers feel forgotten. They do. No doubt. From Afghanisthan to Iraq they absolutely feel...
Logan's exasperation with her media colleagues is understandable. The interview Howard Kurtz did of Logan started with the question if she is helping terrorists spread their message. Kurtz then asked her why she isn't covering more positive stories. Logan told Kurtz that it is hard to be all sunshine when so many American and Iraqis are dying. Logan rightfully told Kurtz she "resented" people questioning her reporting.
Logan called it "an outrage" for critics question her coverage, when journalists can not travel without military or private security. It's clear that Logan is angry with Kurtz. Her voice and body language becomes increasingly agitated. The latter defended Laura Ingraham attacks on Iraq war correspondents by pointing out the conservative talk show host spent eight days in Iraq. Logan sarcasticly retorted, "For Eight days."
It is bizarre for a media critic wanting journalists like Logan to do Iraq fluff stories. Kurtz publicly criticized Logan for refusing to do a story about female sailors keeping virtual online pets. Kurtz complaint as a media critic is that Logan is not furthering the White House's fantasy-based narrative.
In case you haven't figured it out: Howard Kurtz is the unnamed journalist Logan spoke of to Jon Stewart. I have watched the Logan/Kurtz interview several times. Kurtz's passive-aggressive anger on Logan staggering. Logan looks like she wants to get on the next plane from Baghdad to personally smack the shit out of Kurtz. John McCain was publicly laughed at for stating the streets of Baghdad were safe for Americans to go on a stroll. Kurtz hammers Logan Fox News-style for not promoting such propaganda.
The most cowardly thing about Kurtz's attack is he hides behind so-called "critics" of Logan. It is Kurtz whom is obsessed about Logan's reporting. No one on in the Bush administration has publicly condemned Logan for not doing more virtual pet stories. At least Bill O'Reilly will personally lambast Bill Moyers. Kurtz cites unnamed conservatives against Logan to mask his personal contempt. Ingraham did not personally go after Logan. (I can't find an Ingraham quote before the Kurtz interview.) Howard Kurtz did and behind a woman to attack Logan. Kurtz hardly displayed the kind of moral courage that would actually go into a warzone to find those feel good stories.
Except the the 60 Minutes story was debunked.
Republicans also gave bogus emails to the media about the Obama administrations handing of Benghazi.
