It's Not the Peabody, But...

NPR does occasionally throw the intelligent listener a bone, so let's throw them credit where credit is due.

• On Wednesday morning NPR hosted Dean Baker, one of it's most stinging critics (and a damn smart economist, too), to bring a rare perspective on the deficits to NPR.

• Then on Friday afternoon, Robert Siegel talked to Joseph Stiglitz, who brought a fairly progressive analysis of the Wall Street oriented performance of the Obama administration.

Two in one week; that must be a like a record or something!

Update: Unlike most mainstream journalists Baker shows he's not concerned about sucking up to organizations like NPR in order to gain that mystical prize of "access." On Friday morning he turns his telescope on that home of economic idiocy known as Planet Money [which actually has won a Peabody!]

You Got Punk'd

I had to post this because - to their credit - on Thursday's ATC, NPR had on Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation to give her reaction to Obama's War-You-Can-Believe In rubbish Nobel Peace Prize lecture. Here's what she said:

"President Obama is an ethical realist....a speech grounded in realism with elements of idealism ....could see why the Nobel committee awarded him this prize....had a humility and grace while confronting the paradoxes."

Even Bob Siegel had to ask, "But you seem to be resolving this conflict between the wartime president, who's escalated the U.S. operation in Afghanistan and the peace prize winner, and the speech about peace rather easily. I'm surprised. I'm surprised you're not more stuck on that one." [Yeah, me too!]

Vanden Heuvel simply took another sip o' the Kool-aid and added,

"And I think it is up to the people, not only in the United States, but this world, to push him to live up to the words he spoke in the speech which was a complex speech. It was a, kind of a speech that could be taught in a college course on just war and America's role in the world."

Wowzer! Even the pathetic Juan Williams was more articulate on Saturday's Weekend Edition:
"Well, I think it was a very militaristic speech....how does that relate to eight years of war that was based on weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist? And what does it say to us about dealing with Iran and their difficulties today?....here's a president who is advancing war - two wars at this moment - where is the peace? You know, where is the Martin Luther King? Where is the Mandela? The commitment to non-violence?"

Ok, So It Took Eight Years

I think it must be a record for me: two positive notes about NPR news in one week. I was pleased - and frankly surprised - that NPR gave a prime slot of Thursday's ATC to an interview with Matthew Hoh, the Iraq war veteran and recent State Department official in Afghanistan who resigned his post as a protest of the US mission in Afghanistan.

I think this must have been a first for NPR, featuring someone who is not just quibbling with the "tactics" or "strategy" of a US war - but is questioning the whole project.

I realize that it is long, long overdue, but I'm also aware that NPR could have just ignored this story.

Definitely Not from the Monkey Planet

I thought I'd toss out a brief compliment to NPR News regarding their willingness to turn to Simon Johnson regarding financial policy under the Obama administration. Johnson, a former chief economist at the IMF is pretty bold about critiquing the way that the banking giants have been supersized by the Bush-Obama bailout program (his appearance on Bill Moyers Journal is worth the watch).

He was on ATC on October 9th - how often do you get to hear someone say this regarding the financial system that operates in the US:

"It's a very sophisticated sort of oligarchy that we've created..."

NPR again turned to him this week on ATC (October 28th) to weigh in on whether the mega-banks should be broken up. Again, refreshing comments such as,

"And the view that our banks are only good and forces for all kinds of progressive change is, I have to say, a little New York-biased. Most of the people in the rest of the world don't see it that way, and with good reason."

I just hope NPR doesn't Kevin Phillips him. You remember him don't you? He used to be a moderate Republican regular on NPR until he got too honest for them - pointing out the obvious sad truths of our dying republic (e.g. the Bushogarchy, the plutocracy we live in, American theocracy and Bad Money). The fate of Johnson on NPR will be interesting to watch.

Raz Gets a Lesson (or Two)

First, praise is in order for whoever lined up guests for two shows on Saturday's All Thing's Considered. Guy Raz was hosting the show and for a report on Afghanistan's election NPR turned to "Jean MacKenzie, a correspondent for GlobalPost.com and the director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Afghanistan." To cover the forthcoming report on CIA torture Raz spoke with former CIA agent, Robert Baer.

Here's what happens when guests are not the usual parrots for the US military or government:

On the Afghanistan election:

RAZ: "Jean, we're hearing from some officials in Afghanistan, western officials, that this election has gone off better than expected, not much violence, high voter turnout, a free and fair process. Is that what you've been saying?"
Ms. MACKENZIE: (laughs out loud) "That sounds very far from the perception of people who have been intimately involved in the process, I would say. I think the threshold of success for this election has been getting lower and lower."

On the CIA report:

RAZ: "I mean, our country, Robert Baer, like other countries, sometimes has to do dirty things, right?"
Mr. BAER: "No. You know, this goes back to Nuremberg - the Nuremberg defense...."

It is really telling when a former CIA agent has to remind a journalist about Nuremberg and the rule of law (maybe there is hope after all) - and the outright laughter from Jean Mackenzie was one of the most honest moments I've heard on NPR all year.

Update on Detained Journalist Jassam

At the end of May of this year I posted about NPR's dismal track record in covering up the US military's attacks on journalists - especially Ibrahim Jassam. This morning NPR's Quil Lawrence conducted a fairly decent report on Jassam's baseless detention. As Jeremy Scahill has pointed out, there is far more than Jassam's detention to investigate, but for NPR this was a small, though commendable step.

Rare Praises for NPR

I was going to write about yesterday's deceitful and stupid report on the CIA by Pamela Hess of the AP (Media Bloodhound and Left I on the News often expose the AP for being the lazy rebroadcaster of US government propaganda that it is) or Juan Forero's (the reporter who couldn't read straight) pro bono work this morning for the owners of Venezuelan plantations (farms in Forero-speak) or Inskeep's coffee-clutch against the public health insurance option with the PR man for Wellpoint the parent company of a foundation that just happens to be one of NPR's biggest annual donors (hint: it's the California Endowment).

(From NPR's 2005 [most recent] Annual Report -PDF file)

But heck, it's summer and let's give credit where credit is due. First to Robert Siegel (there I said it!) who, on Monday's ATC, presented the Alito remarks about empathy as a counter to the attacks on Sotomayor's remarks about empathy. Siegel was interviewing the twittering Chuck Grassley of Iowa and confronted him with the Alito statements AND even asked a few follow-ups when Grassley tried to squirm out of making a complete ninny of himself. It was delicious.

More importantly, this morning Peter Kenyon actually covered the story of the 25 IDF soldiers who have documented the systematic war crimes of Operation Cast Lead. NPR actually sent a reporter on the ground in Gaza and talked to a Gazan who lost his parents to Israeli shooters in a case similiar to one related by an Israeli soldier. Several commenters on the web site of the story thanked NPR for reporting this - one who summed it up well as a commendable "baby step."

From the Inbox

I got a thoughtful email from someone who read the comment I posted on the NPR site regarding Alicia Shepard's comments on NPR's "Monkey See" blog [re: "See No Irony" post below]. Here's the email which I'm posting by request from the sender:

You wrote:
"I challenge Shepard (or anyone for that matter) to show any examples in the last 10 years where NPR's main news shows (ME, ATC, WE-Sat or WE-Sun) "held people in power accountable for what they said,[or] put it in context." I've been carefully critiquing NPR for almost 3 years and NPR News consistently echoes and champions the opinions and assertions of the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and free market corporatism."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/03/the_extended_uncut_daily_show.html

I've only heard one instance of NPR actually standing up to spin by an
interviewee:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15046448

I've never heard anything like it since, and I listen almost every day.

As I recall, there were tons of people who wrote in letters showing
support and calling for more:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15198525

Please indicate this on your blog. I couldn't find it anywhere.

Daniel Roesler

I appreciated the work that Roesler did to find this piece and the positive response of listeners. Siegel's interview does fit with my challenge. He does confront a White House spokesperson with what he has said and with what the facts are. Siegel does a decent job of contextualizing the conversation by noting that even for a $60,000 income family of four - health insurance coverage can be extremely expensive and burdensome. However, even as Siegel points out, the support for the SCHIP expansion was shared by most newspaper editorials and several prominent Republicans. I guess what I found most hopeful is that listeners seem to be hungry for a higher quality of reporting even though it's rare on NPR.

Something Decent

Today I get a rare chance to make a positive comment about something on NPR news - and with Scott Simon involved, too. Next thing you know, it'll be snowing in Alabama!

On WE Sunday, NPR talked to a former guard about abuses he witnessed at Guantanamo. In spite of a few misfires - e.g. Simon claiming that "there have been few first hand accounts of what the military prison at Guantanamo Bay is really like" - I have to say that (though way too late) it was a good start.

The best part of the story was the reference in the report to the Guantanamo Testimonials Project at UC Davis's Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas. I can't believe I actually learned about a new information resource from NPR! On the story web site NPR even provides this link to the guard's testimony based on the UC Davis site.

How About Contracting Zwerdling?

Holy crap, Daniel Zwerdling demonstrates some of the basics of what NPR ought to be doing all the time: digging up information on government policies, asking probing questions, providing historical context, seeking out varied opinions from those in positions to know information, and providing numbers and data (and pointing what information is hidden from public knowledge or simply unknowable). Perhaps NPR could shut down for a few weeks and hire Zwerdling provide a little in-house training to remind his colleagues that their job is to question and probe the powerful - not just be their loyal spokespersons.

On Monday morning, Zwerdling explores the burgeoning phenomenon of contracting out government services and functions. Amazingly, he puts the privatization of government in a historical context. He notes that some contracting out of government services has always occurred in the US, but "you could say the modern era of contracting began on Jan. 20, 1981, when President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office...Reagan said one of the best ways to solve this problem was to turn over government jobs to private industry. Then, a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, embraced the same strategy....and, actually....did even more to contract out work than Reagan....[and] made it easier for companies to get government contracts without competing. And then came President Bush, who said 'big government is not the answer' and shattered all the previous records for contracting out."

Zwerdling considers the assumptions that underlie privatizing government ("Businesses often know better than government how to do things right — and cheaper.") and then goes to the GAO (nonpartisan agency) for the facts about how so many contracts are completely unsupervised and accountable to no one.

Today, was just as pointed. Zwerdling lays out the vast array of critical government services that are now contracted out, and then he does something amazing - points out the threat that such privatization poses for a democratic society: "federal workers, at least, have to swear an oath to defend the Constitution, just like soldiers do. Not contractors." As a Congressionally appointed oversight commissioner tells Zwerdling, "These contractors, they're not under the normal democratic accountability at all....Contractors are motivated by the dollar."

Zwerdling manages again to go back in time to evoke the warnings of Eisenhower regarding the military industrial complex, and connects it growth to the extensive growth of private contracting.

Imagine if all news reports on NPR had the basic features of this series - I could stop writing this Godforsaken blog! But I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Listening to Zwerdling's reports was refreshing, but ultimately sad for how it stands out as the exception to the usual practice of NPR's news.

(BTW, the graphic is me...of course)

Burning Up the Tube So To Speak

Hey, let's give Andrea Seabrook credit for at least mentioning, on Saturday's ATC, the video of one NYPD's finest assaulting a cyclist in a Critical Mass ride - even if she introduced it with her signature doofiness:

"Now a few of the stories burning up the tube so to speak - news you're more likely to find forwarded to you by email than in any newspaper, call it viral news. First if you think YouTube is all silliness and fluff, check this out: a New York City police officer was videotaped ramming a bicyclist to the ground....the officer was later identified...He's now been stripped of his badge and gun and is on desk duty while the department investigates."

The kicker is that there is a real news story here that NPR conveniently misses. If you read the story of the police assault in the Gothamist, you'll notice this telling fact: "the cyclist in this video was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest." Seems to me that's what usually happens when the police beat someone up and there's no video camera around. Wouldn't contacting the NYPD Commissioner make an interesting investigative piece? Well, dang, I figured if I waited around for NPR get on the case, I'd be waiting forever, so I just sent an email to the commissioner myself:

Dear Commissioner,

I'm curious to know why the cyclist attacked by a NYPD officer in the Critical Mass ride was arrested, held for 26 hours, and charged with attempted assault and resisting arrest. Is this typical? Seems like witnesses and other officers on the scene would have noticed that the rider did nothing illegal.

Could you explain this?

I'll let you know if I get a response, and who knows maybe I'll pass it on to NPR so they can report not just on the cool "viral news," but also on the viral police state called the Homeland.

Arf!

OK, so maybe it's only a bone, but I'll take it. I've complained several times (very recently, Dec. 25, 2007, and Dec. 17, 2007) about the lack of any serious coverage of the Iraqi refugee crisis, but this morning NPR had a decent report on the issue. Deborah Amos interviewed Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group, which has released a report on the state of Iraq's nearly 5 million displaced persons. This NPR report was significant for finally mentioning the responsibility of the United States for the crisis, and its negligence in providing assistance.

The next logical step would be for NPR to seek out some of the high level war criminals officials in the White House and State Department and demand to know why they have done virtually nothing to address this humanitarian disaster of their own making.

What the Doctor Ordered

One or more people at NPR deserve medals for getting past its typically awful coverage of our national health care disgrace. This morning NPR offered the first of a series of examinations of the health care systems of other leading industrial nations (today's was Germany's).

Noticeably lacking was any of the usual dismissiveness toward a comprehensive national health care system. The reporter conducting the story actually tried to discover what works with Germany's system, what its users think about it, and - rarely mentioned in news reports - how the guarantee of full and equitable health care for all citizens of a country can improve the humanity of that country, creating a sense of compassion and unity (the report even called it solidarity!).

As I've written before, I am disgusted at paying exorbitant rates (now $8000 a year for my family - with $25 office visit copays) for employer supported coverage that is far worse than what one should get - and that doesn't do anything to help include the uninsured in coverage. So thank you, whoever you are at NPR who put together this show. It is crucial to highlight the possibilities of a better health care system in this election year when there is a slight possibility that our own system may be improved (although I confess to having the same delusion back in 1992).

Some Things Considered

As reader Flavio points out in the 'Open Thread' below, Guy Raz did an admirable interview with John Cusak on Saturday's ATC regarding Cusak's new movie War, Inc. I also heard his interview with McClatchy Newspaper's John Landay regarding Scott McClellan's book and the media's role in the run up to the Iraq war. In both pieces Raz interviewed his guests as if he were a curious, informed person attempting to hone in on the serious and important aspects of the story. It really was jaw-dropping in that he was filling in for Andrea Seabrook, who usually hosts the weekend ATC shows with a giggly, oh-my-gosh vacuousness.

And Sunday's ATC, which is generally light fare anyway, wasn't awful either. When the piece on the "anti-folk" comic artist started I cringed, thinking it would be one of those horrid pieces where anyone with a conscience is ridiculed or disdained, and instead it turned out to be substantive with guest and host seriously discussing what it means to be an artist has in this damaged world of ours. I actually came to appreciate what the guest was doing, after an initial negative reaction.

Good Lord, even the piece by Sam Hudzik on Obama's cutting ties with his former church was interesting and thoughtful.

I didn't hear all of both shows, so perhaps I missed something really galling (I hope not), but what I listened to was such a radical departure from the insipid fare usually dished up on the weekend ATC that I was quite surprised.

Unfortunately, Sunday's ATC ended with Guy Raz announcing that next weekend Andrea Seabrook would be back.

Hat Tip

Many thanks to reader Ellen for this great link to Utah Phillip's "Talking NPR Blues" (I think NPR Check has found its fight song). Ironically, I've got to give a nod to NPR for airing a fine tribute to Phillips on Thursday's ATC. Of course "Talking NPR Blues" wasn't mentioned, but Bill Harley who presented the piece included Phillips' radical side, for example noting his aphorism that (take note NPR) "the most radical thing in America is a long term memory."
For more on Phillips see this recording site (where the photo came from) and this tribute (which is part of a great larger project).

The Good, the Bad and...

• The Good

I have to credit NPR with doing a pretty good interview this morning on the dissenting Army captains who published a signed opinion piece in the Washington Post. These officers, who have left the military, offer one interesting take on the war in Iraq. It was especially refreshing to hear them after all the "upbeat" news spinning out of Iraq. Wouldn't it be great if NPR didn't wait for people like these former captains to publish something in the Washington Post and instead did a little more original searching for multiple views and opinions on the Iraq nightmare? NPR's website also links to the website of Luis Carlos Montalvan, one of the captains, which is worth a look.

• The Bad

Wouldn't be NPR without the bad, would it? Jackie Northam provides one of the stupidest reports on Pakistan and Musharraf that I've heard in a long time. As Porter notes in today's Open Thread below, where is Philip Reeve's expertise on Musharraf and his disappearing uniform? He last talked on the topic over a week ago. Contrast his thoughtful pieces with this worthless filler from Northam:

Inskeep asks her if Musharraf has really given up anything by "taking off his uniform." She responds, "He has given up an enormous amount of power and influence" even though she later admits to Inskeep that he "he handpicked the next head of the army." Then Northam - apparently thinking she's a walking Zogby poll and can speak for the 164,741,924 citizens of Pakistan - tells us "people seem to like him here; they think it's a good choice." In spite of serious human rights shortcomings, Northam reminds us that this handpicked chief "is pro-American though...and most importantly for the US is that he's on board with this fight against terrorism as is Musharraf. And that's important Steve...." Talk about on board - Bush couldn't have said it better himself - or could he?

• And...

And the ugly? Well there's always plenty of that on NPR, but the commenter, artes moriendi, in the Open Thread below has a deserving candidate - Mara Liasson's sorry piece on the Clintons.

I Hope It's a Trend

Monday morning I missed the segment of Anne Garrels reporting on Special Forces in Iraq. To be honest, I just wasn't interested in ragging on her coverage - but I listened to it on the web today and was flabbergasted. It's a pretty gutsy piece that implies that US Special Forces in Iraq are brutally torturing prisoners

"I happened on a group of Iraqi prisoners who had just been brought in by a joint US/Iraqi special forces team. It was clear the prisoners had been badly beaten; they were covered in blood."

carrying out extrajudicial killings

"Iraqi witnesses say a US Special Forces team interrogated Ahmed, and then shot him. These same witnesses say American soldiers then shot Ahmed's wife."

and trying to cover up their crimes by keeping the media at bay

"...the special forces were angry that I had seen what I had seen and demanded that I be removed from the base."

"....when the US military was asked to provide more information...and access to those who took part in the raid, the request was denied....a request to speak to the head of Special Operations in Iraq was also denied. "

or by simply lying about what is going on.

"...asked about the raid the US military produced a brief press release. It says, 'Unspecified coalition forces responding to hostile intent killed three unnamed suspects.' "

Like the Tom Bowman piece I recently commended, Garrels actually took the time to speak to IRAQI witnesses and quotes them at length, and lets the US military present its version. But she puts it in a context of corroborative testimony, the evidence of abuse she actually saw, and the way in which military press statements obscure names and locations of such abuse.

Her only misstep is when she tells us, "There is only one thing the US and Iraqi accounts agree on: the main target of the raid, Ahmed Mahmood Ali, was probably not a good guy. Both say he had hand grenades; relatives say insurgent DVDs and a video camera, possibly used to document insurgent attacks, were also found in his possession. However, villagers say the other victims were not likely to have been involved with al-Qaeda..." That silly "good guy" "bad guy"stuff comes off pretty strange in this story. Frankly, I don't see how being an insurgent makes someone objectively a good or bad guy - and it certainly does not mean that that person is an al-Qaeda fighter.

Seriously though, I hope that this practice of investigating US operations, talking to witnesses, seeking evidence, and reporting when the military is being secretive, vague or evasive will continue; after all it's the right thing to do...

Tom Bowman Surprises Me

All right I was really amazed at the quality of the report from Tom Bowman in Iraq. Instead of a simple embedded report, he seems to have visited the site of an American offensive operation and interviews Iraqi eyewitnesses.

It's not a one-sided piece by any stretch. It gives voice to many descriptions of what may have happened on Oct. 4th when the US attacked the Iraqi village of Jaisani. Various Iraqis and US officers and spokespeople contribute to the report.

NPR deserves credit for not just reporting the US version of this awful event. I remember when it occured that it was reported in many news outlets as resulting in the deaths of "terrorists" and "criminals." This report features the US military again using this language, but the report makes it very clear that this version of events is not born out by many of the witnesses on the ground.

NPR should do more of this kind of on the ground reporting - and when unable to because of security problems, should emphasize that it is relying solely on US military or government sourcing which has proved to be frequently unreliable.

Surging News

This week simply demands a midweek post!

No Shame Department

On Sunday Tom Bowman had the gall to say "Now, some nine months later, Petraeus has convinced some skeptics like Michaels O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution." Skeptics!? O'Hanlon has been an ardent liar and promoter of the Iraq War from before the get-go! NPR knows he is always wrong and a pro-war spokesperson and yet brings him on again and again (including today) as a supposed expert - or tries to pass him off as a skeptic.

Major General Garrels reports that 'It's Working'

Quoting Petraeus on Monday's ATC, Block asks Garrels, "...the military objectives of the surge are in large measure being met...a drop in security incidents....Does that jibe with what you've been seeing and hearing when you've been there?" And in-bedded Garrels responds, "Yes it does. Most people, most commanders here, say things have improved, but...the gains are very fragile..." Then citing Crocker, Block adds, "...2006 was a bad year for Iraq. So 2007 is looking better." Garrels responds, "That's right. It's slow." Regarding Petraeus' shell game "draw down" Garrels notes of US troops, "they thought that his timeline makes sense....One captain said to me 'Listen, we're finally engaged in counterinsurgency strategy head-on and it's working. Let us make it work.'" These NPR News drones would do well to read McClatchy - they actually investigate the cooked numbers from the US military about the success of the surge and come up with a different picture.

On Tuesday ME Inskeep talks to NPR's Garrels and Bowman. Amazing, astounding, big improvements and progress is what Tuesday morning is all about. Reporting from combat outpost "Apache," Garrels tells Inskeep, "There are dramatic improvements here..." According to her ethnic cleansing north of the "outpost" has not happened "because of the surge...according to commanders and Iraqis who live here" (since when has Garrels freely talked to "Iraqis who live here"). Garrels credits all this improvement to, "The big difference is that US troops are now living in the neighborhoods. They know their areas of operation very well. They know the people. And they are working very, very closely with the Iraqi Army..." Later we get treated to - BING! - a former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Reagan (at least he's earned his liar credentials). Bing West is on to tell us how he can stroll around peaceful Fallujah without his flak jacket - wow!

Tarabay Uses Her Microphone

Tuesday ATC was much better. Jamie Tarabay does an admirable job of letting various Iraqi workers talk about their views of the surge (they have a bitter, dismal view of their security). Seriously, isn't this what journalists are supposed to do - use their skills and resources to hold up to scrutiny what the powerful are telling us - without always turning to sources who are beholden to the institutions of power? Also on Tuesday, we hear not only from a Republican Senator, but from Democratic Senator Feingold who is articulate and firm about the Iraq disaster and the nonsense of surge success.

Let it Snow...

On Wednesday's ATC Michele Norris talks to Tony Snow: "You've had a particularly tough run defending an increasingly unpopular president and an unpopular war..." She lets Snow get away with saying, "I hate to say it, but the public trust in journalists is far lower than it is the President's..." Two major issues with this: 1) Popularity is not the main issue for Snow. The FACTS of Bush's lies and incompetence are the problem and the public's growing awareness of the reality of Bush's disasters is the issue and 2) Snow's statement about journalists doesn't wash at all (except among Fox viewers) - Bush has disapproval ratings of 62-64% while favorabilty ratings for news reporting from national cable, network, and newspaper outlets are 75%, 71%, and 60% respectively.

The Freaking Beard

Please tell me that I had an auditory hallucination and that my listener support dollars weren't really used to put together Wednesday ATC's 2 and 1/2 minute segment on whether Bin Laden's beard is fake or dyed black. Seriously, why not spend a little time explaining why the foreign policy of the US first helps train and create a despicable character like Bin Laden and then continues policies that play right into his hands? That would be worth at least a couple of precious minutes.

Expanding Pakistan

I have to concur with readers of this blog that NPR News does a service to listeners by regularly featuring Philip Reeves' reports from Pakistan. NPR deserves further credit for its interview this morning with Moshin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie, two Pakistani novelists. They really take apart the one dimensional views of Pakistan that most US citizens are presented with in the press (views that can lead someone like Sen. Obama to assume that Pakistan is ours for the bombing).

Now if NPR could just extend this kind of layered reporting to the rest of the world. One is allowed to wish, eh?