Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Joseph C. Wilson" in English language version.
In an interview with Committee staff, the former ambassador [Wilson] was able to provide more information about the meeting between former [Niger] Prime Minister Mayaki and the Iraqi delegation. ... [Wilson] said that Mayaki did meet with the Iraqi delegation but never discussed what was meant by [the two countries] "expanding commercial relations" [being suggested by the Iraqis]. ... [Wilson] said that because Mayaki was wary of discussing any trade issues with a country under United Nations (UN) sanctions, he made a successful effort to steer the conversation away from a discussion of trade with the Iraqi delegation." Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, Together with Additional Views Archived 2006-08-30 at the Wayback Machine|24.1 MiB, July 7, 2004, revised July 9, 2004, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 2004) pp. 36–83, accessed July 29, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)It would have been helpful if the editorial had put statements about Wilson in more context—especially the controversy over his trip and what he said. It also could have used a sentence to say what is known in every newsroom: Leaks are good for journalism.
On the Gellman/Linzer story, it would have been good to quote more from the WMD commission's and Iraq Survey Group's reports and specifically their conclusions.
Both pieces demonstrate the high wall between editorial and news. While editorial writers read reporters' stories, Executive Editor Len Downie doesn't regularly read editorials (although he read this one) lest it make a mark on how he runs the news pages.
Some readers think it's a scandal when two parts of the newspaper appear to be in conflict with each other, but it's not that unusual that reporting—particularly in news and editorial—will depend on different sources. It happened again last week when an editorial and a story gave different estimates for how long it might take Iran to build a nuclear bomb.
Reporting about national security and intelligence gathering is always fraught with fraught [sic]; it is a subject I will write about again. Deborah Howell, "Two Views of the Libby Leak Case", The Washington Post, April 16, 2006: B06, accessed September 19, 2006.
In an interview with Committee staff, the former ambassador [Wilson] was able to provide more information about the meeting between former [Niger] Prime Minister Mayaki and the Iraqi delegation. ... [Wilson] said that Mayaki did meet with the Iraqi delegation but never discussed what was meant by [the two countries] "expanding commercial relations" [being suggested by the Iraqis]. ... [Wilson] said that because Mayaki was wary of discussing any trade issues with a country under United Nations (UN) sanctions, he made a successful effort to steer the conversation away from a discussion of trade with the Iraqi delegation." Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, Together with Additional Views Archived 2006-08-30 at the Wayback Machine|24.1 MiB, July 7, 2004, revised July 9, 2004, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 2004) pp. 36–83, accessed July 29, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)