Al Qaeda Quagmire: A Little Attribution, Please?
BY Herschel Smith
17 years ago
On October 9, 2007, I published Iraq: Al Qaeda’s Quagmire. It got plenty of traffic, especially since Glenn Reynolds linked it at Instapundit. In fact, a Google search on the words “al qaeda quagmire” or “iraq al qaeda quagmire” puts this post right at the top.
On October 29, 2007, the New York Post published an editorial entitled “Al Qaeda’s Quagmire.” On November 18, 2007, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an editorial entitled “It’s True: Iraq is a Quagmire.” In both of these editorials the main theme was similar or equivalent to the theme of my article, and at least the New York Post’s title line was approximately the same. Neither editorial supplied any attribution whatsoever to The Captain’s Journal.
What is really sad is that the main stream media has to wait on a blogger to break the ice and tell the truth. It doesn’t take a genius to do this sort of thing. It takes work, diligence and an open mind. It takes time to wade through the Department of Defense data on “what extremists are saying” to glean the meaningful data out of the letter from al Qaeda high command to Zarqawi and begin to weave a narrative together. One must follow the various kinetic and nonkinetic operations in Iraq, and then when other letters from al Qaeda commanders in Iraq are captured and said to read that al Qaeda is “surrounded, communications have been cut, and that they are desperate for help,” the letter has some context and makes some sense.
Again, it merely requires some work and diligence, work that apparently, for the most part, only bloggers are willing to do (perhaps some in the main stream media are reluctant to publish this sort of thing even when it become apparent to them). As for my remuneration for prose, ideas and title lines taken without attribution, if the New York Post or the Post-Gazette sends a check my way, I will try to be kind to my favorite Marine Corps charity.
On November 20, 2007 at 5:20 pm, Breakerjump said:
I’ll let you know the next time I see a pig flapping by my window.