[Peace-discuss] On Complaints Over Iran Nuclear Weapon Claims, WaPo Ombud Rules for the Plantiffs

[Robert Naiman]

Has your hometown newspaper drunk the Kool-Aid on claims that "the
debate is over," and that everyone now knows that Iran is pursuing the
acquisition of a nuclear weapon? Help is on the way. On Sunday,
Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton, responding to complaints
over a Post headline treating the unproven allegation as a known fact,
came down firmly on the side of the complainants. Moreover, Post
editors corrected the offending headline, conceding it had been an
error to fail to acknowledge debate.

The Post's exemplary intervention on behalf of honest and accurate
journalism comes at a an opportune time, because Congress is currently
poised to approve two self-destructive measures purportedly justified
by the alleged urgency of the threat that Iran could acquire a nuclear
weapon: imposing economic sanctions on Europeans who buy oil from
Iran, and prohibiting contact between U.S. diplomats and Iranian
officials deemed to be a "threat."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/on-complaints-over-iran-n_b_1143480.html

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Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org