Yesterday’s New York Times blockbuster article on the secretive U.S. military trainers in Pakistan isn’t quite the secret it was made out to be. Here’s what the Times reported:
More than 70 United States military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to help its armed forces battle Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the country’s lawless tribal areas, American military officials said. The Americans are mostly Army Special Forces soldiers who are training Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops, providing them with intelligence and advising on combat tactics, the officials said. They do not conduct combat operations, the officials added.
But this “secret” is almost one year old. On March 2, 2008, the New York Times broke the story that the United States would be sending trainers and special equipment. This raises the question: do New York Times editors read their own newspaper? Because if they did, they’d know they had already broke this story.
