3 ms·
The NYT published many false stories about WMD in Iraq because they believed their anonymous sources (edit: or rather sources granted anonymity) ... who were ma
by greglindahl 8y ago
The NYT published many false stories about WMD in Iraq because they believed their anonymous sources (edit: or rather sources granted anonymity) ... who were making assertions far stronger than the raw intelligence supported. Hopefully that's not happening with Bloomberg.
- mlb_hn 8y agoYou may be misunderstanding how anonymous sources work. The NYT knew who the sources were, it's the public who did not (see https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/weekinreview/the-public-editor-weapons-of-mass-destruction-or-mass-distraction.html https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/weekinreview/the-public-e... for NYT's writeup of some of their mistakes)
- greglindahl 8y agoI read that article already, and I do understand how anonymous sources work. It seems like Bloomberg may be making a similar mistake.
- illumin8 8y agoYou have a great point. If an agent of the Trump administration wanted to "plant" anonymous-sourced stories to justify a trade war with China, this is exactly the type of story they would plant. And if we don't believe it could happen, all we have to do is remember back to 2003 when the entire Bush administration used fabricated evidence (yellow-cake uranium anyone?) to justify a pre-emptive strike against Iraq, who never attacked us.