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Very little reporting connected to foreign policy/natsec has integrity. The Washington Post recently ran the following obituary, emphasis mine. https://archive.

Very little reporting connected to foreign policy/natsec has integrity. The Washington Post recently ran the following obituary, emphasis mine. https://archive.md/20220201161018/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/general-john-singlaub-commando-dead/2022/01/31/68486e7e-6a20-11ea-b313-df458622c2cc_story.html https://archive.md/20220201161018/https://www.washingtonpost... > Gen. Singlaub started the U.S. Council for World Freedom, an affiliate of the World Anti-Communist League. Later, as president of the international organization, he made what the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith called “substantial progress” in purging the group of neo-Nazis, antisemites and Latin American death-squad leaders. > ... > In the early 1980s, as Congress began curtailing U.S. funding of efforts to overthrow leftist regimes in Nicaragua and elsewhere, Gen. Singlaub and his organizations remained an important conduit of materiel and financial assistance, reportedly with the help of deep-pocketed conservatives and foreign governments. > He was often compared to Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and other major figures in the Reagan administration’s Iran-contra affair. North was among the national security officials who had authorized illegal arms sales to Iran to win the release of U.S. hostages in the Middle East and used some of the profits to support right-wing Nicaraguan rebels known as the contras. The same man being applauded for purging death squad leaders from an organization and for funding death squad leaders.

openknot 5y ago
The point of an independently-written newspaper obituary isn't hagiography (or endorsement of everything the notable person did). There is a slant to avoid speaking too ill of the dead, but typically obituary writers do not shy away from mentioning controversial aspects of the subject's life. The writer isn't celebrating that he funded the contras, but is instead reporting how he was perceived by the American political class, and also mention key controversies he was involved with. The mention of his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair is an example of responsible reporting; in contrast, an irresponsible writer would have omitted the topic, and you would have never read it.
- dundarious 5y ago
  I know obituaries are mostly non-critical (we can leave for another day the decision-making process about which non-critical obituaries to publish, and whether there is a preference for non-critical obits for certain types of people). But this bold contradiction deserves mention in the article. It's about death squads.

openknot 5y ago

The point of an independently-written newspaper obituary isn't hagiography (or endorsement of everything the notable person did). There is a slant to avoid speaking too ill of the dead, but typically obituary writers do not shy away from mentioning controversial aspects of the subject's life. The writer isn't celebrating that he funded the contras, but is instead reporting how he was perceived by the American political class, and also mention key controversies he was involved with. The mention of his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair is an example of responsible reporting; in contrast, an irresponsible writer would have omitted the topic, and you would have never read it.

dundarious 5y ago
I know obituaries are mostly non-critical (we can leave for another day the decision-making process about which non-critical obituaries to publish, and whether there is a preference for non-critical obits for certain types of people). But this bold contradiction deserves mention in the article. It's about death squads.