My favorite trend in Iraq

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Monday, November 23, 2009 - 6:18 PM Share

Bombers getting hit by bombs they are planting.

My least favorite trend: the supposed resurgence of al Qaeda.

MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images

EXPLORE:AL QAEDA, IRAQ, MILITARY, TERRORISM

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NORWEGIAN SHOOTER

7:15 PM ET

November 23, 2009

How about some disclosure?

Stephen Walt has an idea. What percent of income do you get from CNAS? Also, it seems Boeing is the only advertiser on your blog, while other FP blogs have different advertisers. What's up with that?

CAPTAIN NOVAL

11:34 PM ET

November 23, 2009

This is obnoxious

Tom has a long and distinguished record of reporting. He never had to explain his income from The Wall Street Journal or The Washington Post. The Journal and the Post both run advertisements from Boeing, Philip Morris, Diageo, and Joe The Scumbag Used Car Lot. He's not responsible for what the advertisers do or don't do, and owes you no explanation for his income.

You want to come into the man's blog, first show some common courtesy. Sheesh.

NORWEGIAN SHOOTER

4:59 PM ET

November 24, 2009

You're off target

Of course reporters don't need to explain their newspaper is paying them. And reporters aren't allowed to have sources of income from advocacy groups. But Tom isn't a regular reporter with the WSJ or WaPo anymore. I would bet dollars to donuts that he isn't an employee of WaPo.Newsweek anymore, either. But if he is, I will cease to bring this up.

And I would have no issue if his blog was hosted at cnas.org like Abu Mook. (PS - blogroll url for AM is outdated) But if Tom's major source of income is CNAS, whose contributors include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and almost all of the major defense contractors, then that is a problem for publishing his column on a supposedly independent journalism source.

And the Boeing only ad issue is very minor. It's just weird that his blog has an exclusive ad buyer, while others don't. It appears The Call and Passport also are Boeing only, but Josh Rogin doesn't seem to have any outside FP income, much less is he a senior fellow at a Boeing supported think tank, and Passport is a multi-author blog.

I agree he doesn't owe me any explanation, but that doesn't mean asking for one is obnoxious.

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7:18 AM ET

December 11, 2009

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