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In response to a question about the challenges of getting people on the record, veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk — who was discussing hour two of our financial epic “Money, Power and Wall Street” in a live chat today — nailed an important point I think is too easily forgotten:
The reasons people subject themselves to interviews are as varied as the individuals themselves. Often people are willing to talk to us because we appeal to their better nature—an obligation to help define the historical record. Some, of course, have other reasons—revenge or a desire to influence an ongoing public debate. Others are happy to have their names attached to important television discussions. It’s the people (especially government officials) who REFUSE to talk that always amazes me—I personally feel they have an obligation to take responsibility for their actions…yet to my regret sometimes they will not talk to us. It’s a shame.
It’s a damn shame.
“He presides over a campaign that has killed thousands of Islamist militants and angered millions of Muslims,” wrote The Washington Post‘s Gregg Miller in a rare profile of the head of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center (CTC) on Sunday. ”But he is himself a convert to Islam.”
That startling revelation (that really shouldn’t be so startling) is probably what got people to read it, but the profile is also peppered with fascinating insights about the escalation of the drone program in Pakistan and the origin of the “signature stike.” But none of that’s what I’m writing about now.
The Post identifies the man who has served as head of the CTC for the last six years only as “Roger,” the first name of his cover identity, explaining:
The Post agreed to withhold some details, including Roger’s real name, his full cover identity and his age, at the request of agency officials, who cited concerns for his safety. Although CIA officials often have their cover identities removed when they join the agency’s senior ranks, Roger has maintained his.
But as Yahoo’s Laura Rozen pointed out, the Associated Press already published his name as Mike in February of last year:
The planning for the operation, for instance, was directly overseen by Stephen Kappes, the agency’s now-retired second in command, and by Mike, the longtime chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center who helped Frances and the Khost base chief rise through the ranks despite their operational inexperience. (Emphasis added.)
I asked one of the AP authors of the piece, who told me the name “Mike” was published because it was not a secret.
An earlier column by Jeff Stein in the Post in 2010 also identified him as Mike:
The head of the CTC, a former Baghdad station chief known as Mike, “pushed her along and elevated her,” said the counterterrorism veteran.
So if the name has already been reported by this and another outlet, and isn’t a secret, I want to know why the Post chose (or agreed) to use the first name of his cover identity?
I’d love for journalism buffs to explain.
“If my parents force me to get married, I will compensate for the sorrows of Afghan women and beat my husband so badly that he will take me to court every day.” — Elaha, whose parents disguised her as a boy as she grew up in Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan. After 20 years of being a boy, she had to revert back. The BBC tells her story in a report looking at the tradition known as bacha posh, and hones in on the economic incentives behind it.
“Sure, the Mad Men return got all of the magazine covers, but we’re almost as excited for the return of motherfuckin’ Frontline, with its red-hot current events-based storytelling, and the return of that mysterious narrator with the sexy, sexy voice, the one who hides all the secrets the show is so acclaimed for.” — The AV Club on tonight’s FRONTLINE, “Murdoch’s Scandal,” which you can also watch online, as always.
“Like anyone, I wanted my children to be doctors, engineers — important people. All my dreams are buried under a pile of dust now.” — Muhammad Wazir, who lost his his mother, his wife, a sister-in-law, a brother, a nephew, his four daughters and two of his sons in the shooting spree that took place in Panjwai district in Afghanistan earlier this month. NPR
“One shouldn’t stigmatize veterans by implying that this is normal behavior; but one doesn’t want to isolate them, or leave them stranded on a difficult path, by cheerfully failing to recognize real pain.” — The New Yorker’s Amy Davidson on Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, the American soldier accused of shooting and killing 16 Afghan civilians, nine of them children.
“There is already a sense that the Internet community has become so absurdly self-involved that they don’t think there’s any world outside of theirs.” — Adam Hanft. “Use of Homeless as Internet Hot Spots Backfires on Marketer” — The New York Times
Another fantastic SXSW. Here’s a photo from the CNN Grill Sunday night where I had the pleasure of a smart conversation with Ivan Watson and Peter Bale on Syria, Pakistan and much more. (Ivan has a few inches on me…)
“You provoke the people to rebel against the regime and then you stay away,” an activist named Mahmoud observed acidly, referring to the Western states that have called for the Syrian president to step down. “And then you send your journalists to see how Bashar al-Assad kills his people.” — The Financial Times
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“Sources reported that at approximately 11 p.m., the unruly and increasingly self-accepting women got completely out of hand, respecting and valuing each other to the point that many had clearly had far too much validation.” — The Onion, of course.
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“War reporting is still dominated by men. Marie stood out as a woman who could do it just as well, if not better, than the guys.” — Sarah Topol pays tribute to Marie Colvin, the trenchant and talented Sunday Times correspondent killed in Syria this morning after a shell hit the house she was in. Read Marie’s final report, a searing dispatch from the besieged enclave of Baba Amr in Homs, and this passionate address she delivered at a service in 2010 to commemorate journalists who had lost their lives during conflicts. I had the pleasure of getting to know Marie last year over late night dinner conversations in Egypt while the revolution was underway. She was brilliant, funny and incredibly generous with her insights, guidance and sources, even to a youngin like me. We really did lose a great one.