Does Pentagon in-fighting cause fair reporting at Post?

Post's first day reporting on alleged Israeli espionage is surprisingly fair. Astonishingly, they make no attempt to link the suspect with the Pentagons neocons.

FBI Probe Targets Pentagon Official
Analyst Allegedly Gave Data to Israel
By Bradley Graham and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 28, 2004; Page A01


Could the difference with their usual reporting be different editors and reporters (not the usual foreign desk Said-imatons) or that Pentagon reporters will still need their sources and they don't know who will win the Pentagon in-fighting.


The only important missing piece was reported by CNN that there may not be charges at all.

Haaretz also reported that Israel hasn't been asked for comment, information or testimonies, which is surprising for an espionage case.


By day two, with the addition of Robin Wrong, the reporting suffers.

Analyst Who Is Target of Probe Went to Israel

By Thomas E. Ricks and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 29, 2004; Page A01

They describe AIPAC staffers as "two Israeli lobbyists"

Moreover, a truly fair report would describe the intense fighting in the Pentagon and the various intelligence agencies that are threatened with ..well, having to do their job after not for many years.

Several articles have noted that the CIA and other hostile (to Israel) agencies have falsely tried to discredit AIPAC and Israel with ties to espionage before.

Instead, the Post briefly notes Jonathan Pollard.

My guess is that during the next week, with the political damage done, the charges will fall apart but the Post won't report (and certainly not on page A01).