The Belgravia Dispatch: Another Blogospheric Scoop!

September 13, 2006

Another Blogospheric Scoop!

I note quickly in passing that some blogospheric eminences declared Gulbuddin Hekmatyar captured a couple nights back. Except he wasn't. Such eager-beaver fancy appears to have gotten picked up by other hifalutin' outlets too. Good news, even if we have to concoct it from thin air! Meantime, more bogus claptrap being (predictably) peddled here. I suspect serious people have figured out who the real "bozos" are, however. Hint: They're, for example, those who would believe the Syrians would concoct such a spot of street theater to stave off a US attack, and other such nonsense. Rather, one feels compelled to signal to varied ignorants in our midst, we've got a real growing problem in Syria--with Islamist sentiment erupting dangerously--not least given the misadventure next door in Iraq. Note too the hilarious sourcing ("(a)ccording to well informed Syrian sources"). Yes, yes: I'm sure they're quite well informed indeed, certainly in terms of knowing full well how to feed sophomoric and jocular fantasies to the gullible and naive, that is.

P.S. Capturing Hekmatyar would be huge, but I suspect most people blogging about it have nary a clue who he is (e.g. "bad guy bagged", goes the typically deep analysis). Regardless, count me still relying on the dastardly MSM for most of my breaking news, as well as "counter-terrorism" analysis, I'm afraid.

Posted by Gregory at September 13, 2006 04:47 AM

Comments

That's a revealing post.

What, exactly, has inspired this latest bit of pointless self-righteousness?

Let's see...:
1) Roggio writes an article based on a report from Deutsche Presse-Agentur
2) Reynolds links to Roggio
3) Roggio adds an update noting that the original post was an error.

That looks like a normal, healthy blogospheric operation. It's not like either Reynolds or Roggic claimed to have ID'd the guy. So why the nastygram?

And given that the original error was with an MSM post, it seems particularly odd for you to write:

Regardless, count me still relying on the dastardly MSM for most of my breaking news, as well as "counter-terrorism" analysis, I'm afraid

It is increasingly clear that, in addition to being knowlegeable and occasionally insightful, you are a bit of a jerk.

James

Posted by: James at September 14, 2006 06:35 AM | Permalink to this comment

James,

Not exactly. In Roggio's original post, he does not cite the MSM article you mention. Roggio himself references the article only in his correction, and says that he did not print the findings of this article until he confirmed it with an independent intelligence source.

When someone writes a post without a direct citation, especially someone in the intel biz like Roggio, it creates the impression that his was independent reporting. Which, to some extent, it was. And if it wasn't, there should have been proper citation.

Roggio can't have it both ways.

Posted by: Eric Martin at September 14, 2006 10:27 PM | Permalink to this comment

Eric,

You are right that Roggio didn't explicitly mention the source in the text of his original article. But, FWIW, the link in Roggio's original post goes here:
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1200299.php/Seven_al-Qaeda_suspects_arrested_in_eastern_Afghanistan

And that article clearly has the Deutsche Presse-Agentur copyright in its footer.

Always click the link... :)

James

Posted by: James at September 16, 2006 05:50 AM | Permalink to this comment

	« Wisdom from Dartmouth \| Main \| Zilmer's (Duty-Bound) Verbal Contortions » September 13, 2006 Another Blogospheric Scoop! I note quickly in passing that some blogospheric eminences declared Gulbuddin Hekmatyar captured a couple nights back. Except he wasn't. Such eager-beaver fancy appears to have gotten picked up by other hifalutin' outlets too. Good news, even if we have to concoct it from thin air! Meantime, more bogus claptrap being (predictably) peddled here. I suspect serious people have figured out who the real "bozos" are, however. Hint: They're, for example, those who would believe the Syrians would concoct such a spot of street theater to stave off a US attack, and other such nonsense. Rather, one feels compelled to signal to varied ignorants in our midst, we've got a real growing problem in Syria--with Islamist sentiment erupting dangerously--not least given the misadventure next door in Iraq. Note too the hilarious sourcing ("(a)ccording to well informed Syrian sources"). Yes, yes: I'm sure they're quite well informed indeed, certainly in terms of knowing full well how to feed sophomoric and jocular fantasies to the gullible and naive, that is. P.S. Capturing Hekmatyar would be huge, but I suspect most people blogging about it have nary a clue who he is (e.g. "bad guy bagged", goes the typically deep analysis). Regardless, count me still relying on the dastardly MSM for most of my breaking news, as well as "counter-terrorism" analysis, I'm afraid. Posted by Gregory at September 13, 2006 04:47 AM Comments That's a revealing post. What, exactly, has inspired this latest bit of pointless self-righteousness? Let's see...: 1) Roggio writes an article based on a report from Deutsche Presse-Agentur 2) Reynolds links to Roggio 3) Roggio adds an update noting that the original post was an error. That looks like a normal, healthy blogospheric operation. It's not like either Reynolds or Roggic claimed to have ID'd the guy. So why the nastygram? And given that the original error was with an MSM post, it seems particularly odd for you to write: Regardless, count me still relying on the dastardly MSM for most of my breaking news, as well as "counter-terrorism" analysis, I'm afraid It is increasingly clear that, in addition to being knowlegeable and occasionally insightful, you are a bit of a jerk. James Posted by: James at September 14, 2006 06:35 AM \| Permalink to this comment James, Not exactly. In Roggio's original post, he does not cite the MSM article you mention. Roggio himself references the article only in his correction, and says that he did not print the findings of this article until he confirmed it with an independent intelligence source. When someone writes a post without a direct citation, especially someone in the intel biz like Roggio, it creates the impression that his was independent reporting. Which, to some extent, it was. And if it wasn't, there should have been proper citation. Roggio can't have it both ways. Posted by: Eric Martin at September 14, 2006 10:27 PM \| Permalink to this comment Eric, You are right that Roggio didn't explicitly mention the source in the text of his original article. But, FWIW, the link in Roggio's original post goes here: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1200299.php/Seven_al-Qaeda_suspects_arrested_in_eastern_Afghanistan And that article clearly has the Deutsche Presse-Agentur copyright in its footer. Always click the link... :) James Posted by: James at September 16, 2006 05:50 AM \| Permalink to this comment		About Belgravia Dispatch Gregory Djerejian, an international lawyer and business executive, comments intermittently on global politics, finance & diplomacy at this site. The views expressed herein are solely his own and do not represent those of any organization. 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