A Negative Response
From K Lowell of Hawaii

In response to the recently published NileMedia article titled "Will The Times pay for its Crimes?", we got a very will written negative response from a reader In Hawaii. K Lowell's words were not encouraging, but he is probably right.

The Question was "Will the Times pay for its crimes"? This is his response:

I'm trying to think of a polite way to say "f**k, no" to the question in the title of this piece. Let me put it this way instead. Judith Miller will continue to appear on TV as a Mideast/Arab/Islam/terrorism "expert" for years to come. She will keep her job at the Times and will only make more money. Her next book will be readily published and touted as pure brilliance and a must read. She will pay no price for cheerleading this illegal, disastrous war, nor will she acknowledge the horrific death and destruction (not to mention financial ruin) she has brought our country and Iraq (and the entire region) by her intentional propagandizing and outright lying. She was fooled by nobody, least of all the transparently dishonest Chalabi. She wrote what she wanted to write and got the result she was hoping for: war. She is used to eating lunch quietly at her desk with blood on her hands.

Judith Miller is a member of that special clique of Mideast/Arab/Islam/terrorism "experts" comprised of luminaries such as Pipes, Emerson, Ledeen, Schwartz, Gold, Lewis and Friedman. This ideologically broad (sarcasm) coalition of writers and pundits proves that to be an expert in this field, it is a real plus not to have a name like "Hammad" — or even "Edward Said" — if you want the respect (and promotion) of the media. It also proves that if you are actually from the Mideast, are an Arab or a follower of Islam you are supremely unqualified to participate in a dialogue about yourself, especially compared to enlightened and unbiased Jews from New York City.

There is of course an obvious remedy that the Times could immediately employ that would begin to restore some of its lost credibility. It is easily accomplished. Hire a couple of Arab-Americans, or even Arab nationals, to comment on events, feelings, beliefs and problems in the Middle East, instead of weighing down poor Thomas Friedman and Judith Miller with such burdens. This will free these two "journalists" to cover, say, Likud politics, wherein they have an embarrassment of friends and contacts. And when they finish with our Congress, they can cover Likud politics in the Knesset. I must admit, however, that it would be preferable to me to see them dropped in the heart of Fallujah around midnight, wearing Lynddie England t-shirts, and let them write their way out.

No, Judith Miller — excuse me — Pulitzer Prize winning Judith Miller, will be around for a long time. The reason for this can best be summed up in what one of my unnamed sources tells me is the secret motto of the New York Times: So many Arabs to kill, so little time.

K Lowell
Hawaii