Press A Little Slow On The Uptake

I suppose it's good news that the traditional media is starting to understand the fact that this insistent use by the White House of the phrase "Al Qaeda" to describe every single enemy in Iraq is an explicit attempt to link the occupation of Iraq to the events of 9/11. McClatchy was predictably the first to figure this out, on Tuesday. And now the Grey Lady gives us the same story, albeit with the framing device of "Critics assert" that this is what's happening, instead of, you know, this is actually what's happening.

In rebuffing calls to bring troops home from Iraq, President Bush on Thursday employed a stark and ominous defense. “The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq,” he said, “were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th, and that’s why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home.”

It is an argument Mr. Bush has been making with frequency in the past few months, as the challenges to the continuation of the war have grown. On Thursday alone, he referred at least 30 times to Al Qaeda or its presence in Iraq.

But his references to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and his assertions that it is the same group that attacked the United States in 2001, have greatly oversimplified the nature of the insurgency in Iraq and its relationship with the Qaeda leadership.

There is no question that the group is one of the most dangerous in Iraq. But Mr. Bush’s critics argue that he has overstated the Qaeda connection in an attempt to exploit the same kinds of post-Sept. 11 emotions that helped him win support for the invasion in the first place.

It's a pretty good story, and I particularly liked this paragraph, which puts it bluntly.

Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia did not exist before the Sept. 11 attacks. The Sunni group thrived as a magnet for recruiting and a force for violence largely because of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, which brought an American occupying force of more than 100,000 troops to the heart of the Middle East, and led to a Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.

AQI is an Iraqi group that uses the name Al Qaeda but is a Baathist and Sunni militant HOME-GROWN phenomenon. Good for the NYT for pointing this out. And in the broader context of Al Qaeda's resurgence (more on that tomorrow), it's an important point.

Here's the thing, though. Glenn Greenwald had this story on June 23. The traditional media is just getting around to it? It's not like Greenwald had unlimited resources and a wizard-like knowledge of Mesopotamia. He was just paying attention. And so he scooped the press by three weeks.