Paper Criticizes Own Reporting on Iraq
The New York Times published a self-critical note to its readers late Tuesday, in effect apologizing for the paper's sometimes erroneous reporting on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq both before the United States and coalition countries invaded in March 2003 and during the early days of the occupation.
The mea culpa first appeared on the paper's website, and is in today's editions. The unusual note, which includes a pledge to "continue aggressive reporting aimed at setting the record straight," follows months of criticism.
Readers, other journalists and some antiwar politicians have argued that the paper's numerous stories suggesting that Saddam Hussein may have constructed a large weapons of mass destruction program helped bolster the Bush administration's argument for going to war. No such weapons have been found.
"Over the last year this newspaper has shone the bright light of hindsight on decisions that led the United States into Iraq," the note begins. "
The note, "From the Editors," says the paper reviewed hundreds of articles and turned up an "enormous amount of journalism that we are proud of. In most cases, what we reported was an accurate reflection of the state of our knowledge at the time
"But we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been," the note continues. "In some cases information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged -- or failed to emerge."
Many of the problematic articles "shared a common feature," the note says. "They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on 'regime change' in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks."
The best-known of those sources is Ahmad Chalabi, who the paper says had been a source since 1991. Chalabi was once a favorite of the Bush administration, which viewed him as a potential leader for Iraq. In recent weeks, however, the U.S. has cut off his funding and accused him of feeding U.S. and other intelligence agencies false information to shore up support for the invasion.
The note from the editors references more than half a dozen stories specifically, most of which appeared on the front page.
