More Noted Things

by Cliopatria

You can vote in A Fistful of Euros' Second European Weblog Awards competition. Sharon Howard's Early Modern Notes is nominated for Best Expert or Scholar Award. Cliopatria has many friends among the nominees in other categories, so go over and give them some support!

Archaeologists are reporting the discovery of a massive tomb in Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great and capital of ancient Macedonia.

Der Spiegal recommends UCLA's"Hypermedia Berlin," by which you can do virtual tours of the city, choosing from interactive maps that span the years from 1237 to 2003. Thanks to Dale Light of Light Seeking Light for the tip.

Sarah Baxter and Michael Smith,"CIA Chief Sacked for Opposing Torture," Times Online, 12 February.* Is there no bottom to what the administration does? Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the tip.
*But, see also: Larry Johnson,"House Cleaning at CIA?" TPM Cafe, 7 February.

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Col Steve J - 2/14/2006

The article makes the following claims:

The CIA’s top counter-terrorism official was fired last week because he opposed detaining Al-Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad, sending them to other countries for interrogation and using forms of torture such as “water boarding”, intelligence sources have claimed.

The authors use one *unnamed source* - intelligence official- and then use Vincent Cannistraro - not exactly the standard bearer for telling the truth, someone who has not been in the CIA for over a decade, and someone who has an interest in keeping his name in the media.

Now, despite all that less than stellar support for their claim, they *may* be right. But Cannistraro *may* just be making assumptions or repeating second-hand information. Goss *may* simply be cleaning house. Goss *may* think Grenier is a leaker (and *maybe* he is). Grenier *may* have opposed those things the authors claim and got fired for his views.

The point is the story hardly constitutes *the truth* or even *news* - it's speculation based on apparently one dubious source that the authors have not supported. Okay, they use "claim", but they don't qualify their headline either.

I guess the test would be if your student handed this article, would you give it a good grade for thesis (he was fired for x, y, and z) to support? Or perhaps, would you want to have someone argue you have reached the "bottom" based on this article as evidence?

Now, if Grenier gets invited to go hunting with the VP, then I might be more inclined to give the authors the benefit of the doubt.

John H. Lederer - 2/14/2006

If it were secret and the disclosure knowing or reckless, I would be.

I was thrown for a loop by the disclosure that Fitzgerald had never found out the former.

Jonathan Dresner - 2/14/2006

...if they could prove he was the source of the leaks, they'd have prosecuted him. Arrested him instead of letting him walk out the door. Did they? Nope.

He might not actually be that nice of a person: he might just have read the research which proves that torture is a really lousy interrogation technique. In other words, doing his job.

This administration's abuse of secret classifications and flouting of those laws in select instances is doubleplusgood doublespeak, at least.

Alan Allport - 2/13/2006

I was afraid you were better at this than I am.

Wot, better at bloodyminded nitpicking? Sadly, I probably am.

Ralph E. Luker - 2/13/2006

I was afraid you were better at this than I am. I'll delete the parenthetical note.

Ralph E. Luker - 2/13/2006

Mr. Lederer, You've been a very strong advocate of prosecuting those who leaked the information about Valerie Plame, have you?

Alan Allport - 2/13/2006

I don't think so. A capital is a city of government; a capitol is a building of government. Pella is a city, isn't it?

John H. Lederer - 2/13/2006

let's see, Grenier was fired for his good principled stand against bad things and for generally being a fine upright fellow, but it just happened, in a fluke of circumstance totally unconnected with his firing, that he was also believed to be the source of leaks.....

Ralph E. Luker - 2/13/2006

But surely AP did, didn't it?

Alan Allport - 2/13/2006

I don't understand. Are you saying that the AP got 'capital' and 'capitol' confused (but they didn't, surely)? Or is it something else?