Last week, at a crucial moment in nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, the New York Times published an op-ed by former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton titled “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran.” As I pointed out at the time, the Times accidentally undermined him by linking one of his key claims to an explanation of why that claim was wrong. After I asked about it, the Times changed the link.
Bolton’s many other factual mistakes, detailed below, have also not been corrected — on top of which, Bolton failed to make a relevant disclosure about his paid work for a group that advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime. It’s worth dwelling on these problems a bit given that Bolton’s perspective has a significant constituency in Congress — which could still derail the accord the White House is closing in on with the Iranians.
• Bolton: the Obama administration has “abandon[ed] the red line on weapons-grade fuel…”
This is false. Natural uranium contains only 0.7 percent uranium-235, the isotope needed both for nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Uranium can be used as reactor fuel when enriched to 3-5 percent uranium-235, but it only becomes weapons-grade when enriched to about 90 percent. The “Joint Plan of Action” agreed to in 2013 by Iran, the U.S. and other nations capped Iran’s permitted ability to enrich at 5 percent, the level of reactor fuel. Under the framework announced this week, Iran will agree not to enrich uranium beyond 3.67 percent for at least 15 years. There’s no evidence that the Obama administration ever considered a long-term agreement that would allow Iran to enrich uranium to 90 percent, or indeed anywhere past 5 percent.
• Bolton: “There is now widespread acknowledgment that the rosy 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which judged that Iran’s weapons program was halted in 2003, was an embarrassment, little more than wishful thinking.”
“Widespread acknowledgement” could mean almost anything — for instance, in my apartment there’s widespread acknowledgment that I should be cast as the next James Bond. And presumably there’s widespread acknowledgement among John Bolton’s friends that they’ve never believed the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. However, the Times itself reported in 2012 that “Recent assessments by American spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier” and that that “remains the consensus view of America’s 16 intelligence agencies.” Moreover, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence commented that Bolton’s op-ed “misrepresents several [Intelligence Community] positions.”
• Bolton: the U.S. was “guilty of inattention” regarding Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons.
Rather than being “inattentive,” the Reagan administration — in which Bolton served — proactively helped Pakistan violate U.S. law and purchase key material for its nuclear weapons in the United States. Reagan also falsely certified to Congress that Pakistan did not have nuclear weapons so that the U.S. could continue sending the country hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year. When a Defense Department intelligence analyst complained, the George H.W. Bush administration — in which Bolton also served — fired the analyst and stripped him of his security clearances. The analyst, whose life was ruined, discovered that the specific officials involved in his firing included Scooter Libby and Stephen Hadley — both then working for Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and both, of course, key ideological allies of John Bolton.
• Bolton does not disclose his paid speeches on behalf of the MEK.
The Times identifies Bolton only as “a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute [and] the United States ambassador to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006.” However, Bolton has acknowledged delivering paid speeches in support of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, or MEK. The MEK advocates the overthrow of the Iranian government (as Bolton does himself in his op-ed) and was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. until 2012. According to a 2012 NBC report, U.S. officials believe the MEK has carried out assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists with training and financing from Israel.
Bolton did not respond to questions about how much he has been paid by the MEK. However, the Financial Times reported in 2011 that speakers such as Bolton received from $20,000 to $100,000 per speech, with four-speech packages being “common.”
According to the Times’s own stated policy, contributors such as Bolton are contractually required both to disclose any conflicts of interest to the Times and be truthful:
We request that you disclose anything that might be seen as a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise … We need to know. That doesn’t mean we’ll throw out your article on that basis — in most cases it just means disclosing the relationship to the reader. We also need all of the material that supports the facts in your story … Yes, we do fact check. Do we do it perfectly? Of course not. Everyone makes mistakes, and when we do we correct them. But the facts in a piece must be supported and validated.
None of the above, however, makes any impression on the Times op-ed editors. Asked for comment, they responded: “Mr. Bolton’s views and affiliations are widely known and a matter of public record. All our Op-Ed articles are fact-checked. We do not see a factual error that needs to be corrected.”
Most of the people seem to think a fiction is same as ones interpretation of a factual event. Imagine an event where an actual car driving down the road turns left. If a witness says he saw the car going right and another witness says the car was going left. It is very possible there were two cars or both of the witnesses could possibility have forgotten the actual event or at lest one of them. But if third witness comes in and says that it was an aeroplane and it was going up and there was an elephant that was sitting on top of it eating sugar cane then it is called fiction. If we judge out media based on the above mentioned example then Fox news favours the third witness overwhelmingly. CNN online (I do not watch TV) is very clever they mix stories to confuse people. For NYT it depends on the time of the day. They have their regular schedule where they do represent actual events but when time comes and their “service” is need they becomes Monica for the Third witness. Most of the news we see comes from two sources; Government and Corporations. People such as Michael Bolton or Dick Cheney should not be allowed public discourse. If we do not have a justice system that could put them in solitary confinement at least we should not pretest they are not arguing for million more civilian deaths. Their record is clear as day and if NYT has any doubt then they should start reading what they produce. People have the right to their own interpretation of the facts but they do no have right to their own facts.
Any country that is not considered an ally of the US, and is not developing nuclear weapons is being derelict in its sovereign duty. Nuclear non-proliferation is just a scheme for those with power to maintain their dictatorial position. The US has repeatedly proven that it is not trustworthy as an ally and certainly not as an adversary. We will invade, bomb, and occupy any nation that refuses to give up its natural resources to our corporations, or impedes our effort to otherwise impose our will on the lives of its citizens. We are a bully that is so delusional we do not understand why our victims don’t love us.
The NYT is still busy ducking its share of the responsibility for the Iraq war. Its schizophrenic reporting is indicative of a complete lack of purpose or direction, and its editorial board is simply lying to obscure its previous failures..
How I long for a world devoid of vicious people.
It is obvious that Mr Bolton is a Liar and a War monger. He was a pre 9/11 advocate for the invasion of Iraq which was an abysmal disaster. His total lack of intergrity and gross incompetence makes him totally unfit for any government service. Why the New York Times would give him credibility and pay him for his worthless opinions undermines their integrity and credibility.
I always chuckle when I read about John Bolden. He grew up in Irvington (a section of Baltimore City) and graduated from Mt. St. Joe High School. I grew up in the same area. His arguments remind me of those we use to have at the Loop bar–so many years ago. That he is taken seriously by some , on a national level, is UFB.
What else is new? Certainly not the establishment plumping for more war. It’s not even news: dog bites man. As their non-correction itself says.
Is the article writer a guest contributor here? I don’t see him on the staff page. Also, what have Froomkin and Scahill been up to? I haven’t seen anything new from either of them in a while.
The NYT? “All the news that is print to fit”. Bolton was followed by Judith Miller. That paper has become what we still call “a rag”. A pricey and arrogant rag but a rag nonetheless.
With regards to Pakistan I have long wondered why no pressure has been brought to bear by either our administrations or congress or both to induce Pakistan to give up its nuclear arsenal. I have stopped wondering. India would have to be pressured simultaneously. For a whole catalog of reasons Iran is much easier than Pakistan and India combined. Nevertheless the time is nearing when the same “we will destroy your economy” needs to be applied to India and Pakistan and then to Israel because that, regrettably, seems to be the only method which will make that part of the world nuke-free. Then, voluntarily, US, Russia, China, France and Great Britain. North Korea? I don’t know.
When Jon Stewart interviewed John “Bonkers” Bolton on his show, he hilariously asked him “Is there any county you don’t want to bomb?”
“Bonkers” Bolton is a clown and a buffoon. However, because he is the spokesman for some powerful interests in the U.S., he is a dangerous buffoon!
The U.S. wasn’t “guilty of inattention” regarding Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons. From the BBC:
CIA ‘let atomic expert Khan go’
Pakistani nuclear expert AQ Khan was not arrested when living in the Netherlands as the CIA was monitoring him, an ex-Dutch prime minister says.
Ruud Lubbers said the CIA had asked the Netherlands in 1975 not to prosecute Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is now dubbed the father of Pakistan’s atom bomb.
Mr Khan admitted last year that he had leaked nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya and Iran.
He came under suspicion while working for a Dutch uranium firm, Urenco.
He has been under close guard at his home in Islamabad since his public confession.
According to Mr Lubbers, US intelligence wanted to find out more about Mr Khan’s contacts while he was working as an engineer at the top secret Dutch uranium enrichment plant at Almelo.
“The Americans wished to follow and watch Khan to get more information,” he told Dutch radio.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4135998.stm
Jon, big fan, I link your old tinyrevolution posts often. Your writing, and particularly two posts- “the iron law of institutions” and “where does the cruelty come from?” had a large impact on how I view politics, or attempt to view politics, with compassion. Your POV made me considerably less angry about this shit, is what I’m trying to say. Now I’m just filled with exasperated despair. So thank you.
But I have to say, this article made me furious. I have no compassion for John Bolton, or the NYT, or walruses in general. And most walruses never did anything to me personally. I know this rationally. But if I see walruses on Nature, I’m going to think of John Bolton and the fact that the Pentagon is going to slaughter Iran, eventually, some day, no matter what. So fuck walruses.
But then I start thinking.. maybe walruses aren’t so bad. How many wind up working for think tanks, in the end? Not many.
See? That emiggened perspective I displayed there? That’s a credit to you, sir. Godspeed.
Benjamin, I’m very pleased to hear that I’ve encouraged you to appreciate walruses who work at think tanks. I too admire the walrus-y effort they’ve made, whatever the flaws in their political perspective.
“When a man who is honestly mistaken is shown the truth, he will either cease to be mistaken, or cease being honest.” – anon, re the “fact checking” at the Times
I just find Bolton insanely creepy, in a “Captain Kangaroo from hell” kind of way. Don’t allow him near small children.
And for good reason: is he not the dude whose first wife accused him of trying to force her to have sex with other people (of both genders, the selection to be done by Bolton)? See http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/larry_flynt_john_bolton_and_forced_sex/
If such an allegation was levelled at anyone with the slightest sense of personal integrity, and was false, a defamation suit would be certain. if it wasn’t false…
perhaps my reply to Benito will go down where it belongs, or perhaps not. if you screw up a double blockquote, who knows?
Maybe this comment will go down where it belongs as a reply to Benito. I guess when you screw up the block quotes, anything can happen.
They could have simply stated ‘We do not see a factual error’. Instead their wording was ‘We do not see a factual error which needs to be corrected’. Assuming the NYT understands the meaning of words, this implies there are two categories of factual errors – those which need to be corrected and those which do not. The latter category is interesting since it seems to violate conventional journalistic codes of conduct.
So transparency would suggest the NYT should state the criteria they use for deliberately publishing factual errors. Do they follow a relaxed criteria such as allowing factual errors if the author feels it improves the story, or are they more stringent, and only introduce factual errors when explicitly directed to do so by an investor, advertiser or government authority?
Well sir, you would be completely correct if the phrase “understands the meaning of words” were sufficient to define the issue, but it is not. A Brit I worked with several decades ago would become irritated when I used “which” instead of “that” or the other way around. His claim was that “that” means one thing and “which” should only be used when you mean “, which”, which means an altogether different thing. So if the NYT meant “We do not see a factual error that needs to be corrected.” then I agree with you. But if the NYT meant “We do not see a factual error, which needs to be corrected.”, then I think the NYT is simply acknowledging that in certain articles they are required to select the correct facts, and the meaning of correct is classified.
You yourself wrote ‘We do not see a factual error which needs to be corrected’. when you meant “that”. The meaning of words is entangled with cultural bias.
I think benitoe’s ‘poetic license’ is suspended. *That’s the which-a-way I see it, mike.
Clearly, the NYT is not a guarantee of ‘factual’ information, and they say as much … “Yes, we do fact check. Do we do it perfectly? Of course not. Everyone makes mistakes, … “. Nobody’s perfect, ect., ect.
No, the NYT, as is their wont, is presenting Bolton’s factually inaccurate views (which are ‘widely known’ and ‘acknowledged’!) as -objective- journalism. It’s no … mistake. Make of it what you will.
I’m right if we assume they said what they said; however, I’d be wrong if they said what I said they said.
I think Mark Twain already said that…
Great observation!
My (“cynical”) observation, when I first read the NYT statement, was: “well then, Judith Miller should not have been fired under these guidelines”
Miller and NYT did not see Chalabi’s factual errors needed to be corrected! Well, at least until they were found out!!
Narrow head liberals can’t think beyound their head….time will tell who is sayin the truth.
Bolton also omitted to mention that he worked for MEK while it was designated a terrorist organization by both the US and Iran.
Why wasn’t he prosecuted?
It says everything about the Bush administration that they would appoint Yosemite Sam ambassador to the United Nations. Charlatan.
PORTRAIT OF A MADMAN!!!!
I am glad someone finally exposed Bolton. He and the likes of him get money from terrorist organizations like the MKO that have thousands of innocent people’s blood on their hands.
Please do something intelligent with your mobile application as it really sucks!
Bombing Iran is a great idea. The world population is just too huge, but the trouble is that we cannot bomb China and India yet as they do not have oil in sufficient quantities. The Middle-East is a good place to kill many birds with one bomb, and Iran cannot avoid its responsibility to contribute to the global effort towards population reduction. Of course, such actions are not for weak-hearted people like Cindy and -Mona-, but brave folks like Craig Summers and Nate will appreciate this.
He be preaching to the war-hawk choir. A traitor by any other name!.
Nice article but “why we should care” was left completely implicit. No logical argument was supplied or referenced.
It looks like your deadline for filing this story came due when you had only finished half of the story. Editors at TI should update your story title, as it detracts from the credibility and significance of everything else you are saying.
So, you are personally “detracted” by the title, and, out of your inspiring civil concern for everyone else’s understanding, choose to “detract” everyone’s attention from the relevancy of the content by posting Habara styled propaganda. Isn’t that clever.
I do not want to disrespect the Walrus (animal) but Bolton looks and behaves like Walruses. They establish dominance through threat displays involving tusks, bodies and aggression.
The reason the New York Times doesn’t want to challenge Bolton is because the establishment isn’t really divided into left and right at all (the appearance of a left/right debate is for the rubes, that is, the people.)
The US establishment as a whole simply wishes to assert its overseeing dominance over the issue in the public’s mind. Both left and right say “Iran is potentially a threat,” and both say Iran can not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Now, the biggest actual threats to peace are the United States and Israel, since they both refuse to mind their own business and feel a need, as I said, to assert dominance. This need, psychologically speaking, is a testimony to how immature and insecure both nations’ (America’s and Israel’s) representatives are.
What we’ve witnessed with the latest negotiations is Iran gleefully agreeing that they are a huge threat to everyone, when in fact they are no threat to the US or Israel at all. Iran would be wiped out within seconds of any substantial attack-launch on either Israel or the US, and – not being stupid – they know this. But it serves the right wing establishment to portray Iran as a threat, and it serves Obama and the ‘left wing’ to say the same thing EVEN THOUGH IT IS UNTRUE.
Obama has theatrically positioned himself as a peacemaker, now (ridiculous since he is a war monger), the Republicans have positioned themselves as macho defenders of more oppressive measures, Israel has positioned itself as righteously concerned about the situation, and Iran is positioning itself as laughing heartily at everyone who seriously thinks that Iran is really powerful.
The situation is a win-win-win-win for all the establishments of all the nations. Not that they all agreed to some kind of global deception, just that the theater has provided a stimulating way to assert appearances important to each group, and all have taken advantage of it.
Unfortunately this means that the emotions within populations have been severely manipulated, and those establishmentarians not in on the down-low who are wanting war have only become more enraged than ever, and the relations between all populations involved have become unnecessarily strained, even internally.
In short, this is an incredibly dangerous game that has just been played, and it’s all been about the ego-positioning of various characters who largely actually agree on not changing anything. And the NYT has no intention of stopping the illusion from playing out, further blandishing the distinctions of the theatrical cast to keep the charade going.
NYT, the newspaper of record…NOT ! Well said Cindy, you put your finger on it, i.e. the supine Establishment media pap that passes for “journalism”.
“the U.S. was “guilty of inattention” regarding Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons”
haha, maybe Boltin meant that the American public was inattentive to the Reagan Admin lying to Congress about their arming of Pakistan?
That’s some seriously incompetent stonewalling. Saying, in essence, that it is widely known that the man is a liar, so we’re not going to beat a dead horse here, and then saying, in essence, that you saw the factual errors but they suited your goal and so you chose not to correct them does not un-dig the whole that you’ve dug for yourselves, Times op-ed editors.
Have you, Jon Schwarz, written to Margaret Sullivan
Make that ‘hole.’ The whole hole.
It’s interesting, Margaret Sullivan has addressed the issue of disclosure on the op-ed page before:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/public-editor/new-york-times-public-editor-on-conflicts-of-interest.html
Also, I can’t say this with 100% certainty, but as far as I can tell the NY Times has literally never mentioned the fact that Bolton’s been paid by the MEK.
Margaret Sullivan could exchange or move around a few words here and there in that addressing of the issues, and then use that slightly altered response to the Bolton column and the op-ed editors, and in so doing she would be precisely nailing the problems with each.
“Margaret Sullivan has addressed the issue of disclosure on the op-ed page before” – Jon Schwarz
If there is anyone over there earning their keep doing their job as a journalist in the public’s interest, it would be her.
The NYT is ideologically linked to the anti-Iran cadre for which Bolton is a mouthpiece.
They lie regularly and can’t be trusted on any issue of importance.
Which is not to say that articles such as this one aren’t important.
Every time their lies are exposed and their reputation is damaged, they become a weaker, less effective propaganda outlet.
Their complicity in lying and selling the war in Iraq did a lot of damage, but unfortunately didn’t put them out of business, so these little reminders add another straw to the camel’s back…
Please do the world a favor and share this article with anybody you know who persists in financially propping up that outlet.
To be fair to the NY Times, even their op-ed page, they do a ton of high-quality, worthwhile stuff. But you could say the same about the Catholic Church, which has a dark side that makes it hard to appreciate any of the good they do.
“Hard to appreciate” is a lovely way of putting it.
And, to be fair, the meltdown in Chernobyl created a haven for some wildlife.
The NY Lying times,along with all their Zionists friends in media,are responsible for millions of modern dead people.The Catholic church is not responsible for any modern dead people,although its past is culpable,and any comparison is laughable.Pope Francis might be the strongest breath of fresh air in a long long time,and your attitude towards the church must be driven by some other bias.And I aint Catholic,and don’t let stupid divide and conquer destroy me.
The lies are not a bug but a feature of the imperial class.
It’s definitely true they’re not a bug, but I don’t necessarily agree that they’re a feature, it more that telling the truth is irrelevant.
This is an interesting admission on the part of the NYT – they don’t deny the existence of factual errors, but instead maintain that such errors don’t need to be corrected. This is also my editorial policy – factual errors should be actively encouraged if they support the argument being made by the writer. Of course, the argument itself is carefully scrutinized to ensure that it is logically sound. If it can pass this test, then factual errors are mere embellishments, designed to make the argument more convincing to an illiterate public which is uncomfortable with nuance and ambiguity. This is a form of ‘poetic license’ – factual errors enlisted in the cause of the greater truth.
In a perfect world, such embellishments would probably be unnecessary. However, in the real world, facts supporting the truth can be difficult to find. Weapons of mass destruction are intentionally hidden. Nuclear arsenals are built in secret. It would be a shame if the truth were to remain forever hidden, simply because there was no evidence to support it.
When willful blindness, racism and the promotion of ignorance get so ingrained in a culture that its media incorporates them into its editorial practices, dangerous acts become the norm. But luckily in this case, Obama seems to have done an end run around them, and painted the parties of hate and war into a corner. While the useful idiots and true believers may be convinced that only good things will come from scuttling this agreement, there must be those amongst them who realize that doing so would be a disaster for them. The realization that there is no appeasing the US on this matter will spell the end of the coalition of the unwilling that makes the ‘sanctions’ possible. Left with the choice between impotent threats and almost universally ignored ‘sanctions’ and war, which option do you think the Republicans will go for? And Russia, China, India, Pakistan, as well most likely many parts of Europe and Asia are not likely to sit still while the US threatens their economies and population with the hardships that a sudden cut off of oil and natural gas supplies would bring.
It has a look and feel to it that will become almost metallic, soon. A taste in your mouth, an inexplicable dread, a surge of caveman modus operandi. The world is only mildly interesting, not because of seductive technological innovations, nor the discovery of a new species of plants or animals; not by the rhetorical brain farts of our beloved ideological opponents, but by actually Being There when the “end of the world” finally comes, all our gods will be tried and convicted by you and I. Not the other way around. Hope 2 c u there.
“It would be a shame if the truth were to remain forever hidden, simply because there was no evidence to support it.”
brb, translating this into latin and adding it to my family crest