Richard Cohen on the Self Interest of the Press

by Col. Patrick Lang (Ret.)

In this column, Richard Cohen of the Washington Post — who once had a claim to be considered something other than

Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including PBS’s Newshour, and most recently on MSNBC’s Hardball and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

His CV and blog are linked below the fold.

the usual self-absorbed member of the coastal press corps — tells us that Patrick Fitzgerald of Brooklyn and Chicago should go away quietly.


He opines that destruction of people’s reputation by the Washington political machines in government or out of “K” Street is OK because that is how ” the game is played.”


He further opines that illegal release of classified information by government official to the press in pursuit of the above is acceptable and should be tolerated because, if it is not, then journalists, in Washington, will not be able to ply their trade in marketplace of information. Why? It is because the leakers in government will be afraid to leak and Mr. Cohen will not then be able to take advantage of this porosity and frailty in our government.


For shame.


See also: “Why Patrick Fitzgerald Gets It,” Larry Johnson’s take on Cohen. Johnson often posts on my blog (URL below).

by Col. Patrick Lang (Ret.)

In this column, Richard Cohen of the Washington Post — who once had a claim to be considered something other than

Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including PBS’s Newshour, and most recently on MSNBC’s Hardball and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

His CV and blog are linked below the fold.

the usual self-absorbed member of the coastal press corps — tells us that Patrick Fitzgerald of Brooklyn and Chicago should go away quietly.


He opines that destruction of people’s reputation by the Washington political machines in government or out of “K” Street is OK because that is how ” the game is played.”


He further opines that illegal release of classified information by government official to the press in pursuit of the above is acceptable and should be tolerated because, if it is not, then journalists, in Washington, will not be able to ply their trade in marketplace of information. Why? It is because the leakers in government will be afraid to leak and Mr. Cohen will not then be able to take advantage of this porosity and frailty in our government.


For shame.


See also: “Why Patrick Fitzgerald Gets It,” Larry Johnson’s take on Cohen. Johnson often posts on my blog (URL below).

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“Drinking the Kool-Aid,” Middle East Policy Council Journal, Vol. XI, Summer 2004, No. 2