Attention turns to another, far more disturbing persistent pattern of a NY Times reporter giving readers dubious information risking “playing with the kind of fire that starts or justifies wars, gets people killed and plays into the hands of government officials with partisan axes to grind.” — Russ Baker, The Nation. Venerable Times veteran reporter Judith Miller is increasingly in the crosshairs, especially for her reporting on the Weapons of Mass Disappearance. Here, for example, is a contrast between some of her recent Times headlines and those of her competitor at the WaPo, Barton Gellman:

Here are typical Miller headlines from May:

• May 21: “U.S. Analysts Link Iraq Labs to Germ Arms”

• May 12: “Radioactive Material Found at a Test Site Near Baghdad”

• May 11: “Trailer Is a Mobile Lab Capable of Turning Out Bioweapons, a Team Says”

• May 9: “G.I.’s Search, Not Alone, In the Cellar of Secrets”

• May 8: “U.S. Aides Say Iraqi Truck Could Be a Germ-War Lab”
  

Now Gellman:

• May 18: “Odyssey of Frustration; In Search for Weapons, Army Team Finds Vacuum Cleaners”

• May 11: “Frustrated, U.S. Arms Team to Leave Iraq; Task Force Unable to Find Any Weapons”

• May 10: “Seven Nuclear Sites Looted; Iraqi Scientific Files, Some Containers Missing”

• May 4: “Iraqi Nuclear Site Is Found Looted; U.S. Team Unable to Determine Whether Deadly Materials Are Missing”