He said X 20

One of the acknowledged faults of our press corps is their tendency to approach issues from a 'he said, she said' perspective, without making any effort to discover if what he or she said is true.

Overcoming this tendency would be thought a good thing, but the NYT has shown a way forward that is even worse. It's 'he said X 20'.

Alissa J. Rubin has the byline for the article, "For Iraqis, General’s Report Offers Bitter Truth" which over the course of more than twenty interviews (not all quoted) comes to the conclusion that Iraqis kind of want America to leave Iraq, except they don't. They all believe that the Greatest General EVAR's report is accurate, they all whisper at the end that they're afraid that the Americans will leave.

In conclusion:

However, several Iraqis noted that it was the Americans who created the government. And the corollary, they say, is that Americans bear the responsibility for fixing it. Some went further, saying the Americans should start all over again — even if it meant they would be here for years.

Josh Marshall says it's worth your time to read the article, and I agree, though I'm not sure if it's for the same reason. As a piece of administration sponsored propaganda disseminated through the pages of the NYT, it is a striking example. The sheer brazenness of pretending that most Iraqis want to US to stay in their country for years to come while they 'fix' things has to be read to be believed. The total ignoring of 4 million refugees and 1 million dead strike us as vaulting Ms. Rubin into the front lines of the media hacks, the willing tools of the murderers, liars and thieves that are firmly in charge of this country and the New York Times. Judith Miller, Michael R. Gordon, et. al., take notice, you have competition.