The Road to the Iraq War | 7. Judy

Summary

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Slow Burn – The Road to the Iraq War | Ep. 7: Judy

Date: June 9, 2021
Host: Noreen Malone

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Episode Overview

This episode of Slow Burn explores the role of journalist Judith Miller and the New York Times in the lead-up to the Iraq War. The narrative scrutinizes how the media’s approach to reporting on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ultimately reinforced the Bush administration’s justification for invasion—and how Miller specifically became a focal point of the blame. Through interviews and archival tape, the episode probes the ethics and risks of aggressive reporting vs. responsible verification, and the personal toll of being caught in a major historical controversy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Judith Miller's Early Al Qaeda Reporting (01:07–02:49)

• Background: Stephen Engelberg, then investigations editor at the New York Times, recalls Miller bringing him an explosive lead in summer 2001—an intercepted conversation between two Al Qaeda members hinting at a major terrorist attack.
• Editorial Scrutiny:
  • Engelberg details his cautious questioning of the source: “Who are these two guys? …Are they high level, low level? Are they just two guys talking in a bar?” (02:17)
• Decision to Spike the Story:
  • Due to a lack of concrete information and vetting, Engelberg tells Miller, “I see paragraphs one and maybe two, but what's paragraphs three, four, and five? We can't do it” (02:36).
• Aftermath of 9/11:
  • Both reflect post-9/11 on whether pursuing the story might have changed history. Engelberg confesses uncertainty: “Would it have changed history? Were they really onto this thing? Was it just a coincidence? What was it?” (02:58)

2. Journalistic Responsibility and Its Dilemmas (03:24–04:31)

• Broad Dilemma Presented:
  • Noreen Malone describes the two poles of journalism—pursuing aggressive scoops vs. ensuring rigorous truth. The Times’ decision both upholds journalistic standards and poses the haunting possibility of a missed warning.
• Contrast to Iraq War Context:
  • The episode sets up how caution and aggression alternately shape media coverage—especially in the fevered climate leading to war, with Miller embodying the latter stance.

3. Judith Miller’s Credulity and Regret (04:31–05:08)

• Miller's Reflection:
  • In a candid admission, Miller discusses why she trusted sources who informed her pre-war reporting:
    • “Why did I believe the people I believed? Why did I believe the people who talked to me and not the people who wouldn’t? Because these people…had been the very same people who…were warning us about Al Qaeda and 9/11. I had every reason to believe them because they had been right before. I got it wrong. I got it wrong because I believed people who also believed themselves.” (04:31)
• Memorable Quote:
  • “I got it wrong because I believed people who also believed themselves.” — Judith Miller (05:08)

4. The Media’s Role in the Iraq War Build-Up (05:08–05:49)

• Overall Framing:
  • Host Noreen Malone reflects on the climate of 2002–2003: “If you read the New York Times in 2002 and 2003, you probably believe the Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction… The media mostly backed the administration’s narrative about WMD, even when the evidence was thin.”
• Central Questions:
  • How did respected press outlets, particularly the Times, misjudge WMD evidence?
  • Why did Judith Miller, in particular, become the scapegoat for these failures?

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Stephen Engelberg (on not running Miller’s 2001 Al Qaeda story)
  “I see paragraphs one and maybe two, but what's paragraphs three, four, and five? We can't do it.” (02:36)

• Noreen Malone (on journalism’s dilemma):
  “Journalists have to balance two competing [goals]: get the biggest story you can before the competition does, but also make sure that what you're publishing is true.” (03:24)

• Judith Miller (on source trust):
  “I got it wrong because I believed people who also believed themselves.” (05:08)

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Important Segments and Timestamps

• [01:07–02:49] — Early reporting on Al Qaeda, editorial skepticism, and the story that never ran.
• [04:31–05:08] — Judith Miller’s personal explanation and regret about trusting certain sources.
• [05:08–05:49] — Framing the Times’ and mainstream media’s stance on WMDs pre-Iraq War.

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Tone and Style

The episode combines journalistic rigor, reflective hindsight, and a somber, sometimes self-critical tone. It interweaves first-person narrative, direct interview, and meta-analysis while maintaining empathy for individuals facing monumental editorial choices under intense pressure.

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Summary for New Listeners

If you haven’t listened to the episode, you'll come away understanding:

• The fine line between dogged reporting and reckless amplification of unverified claims in national security journalism.
• How Judith Miller’s experience at the New York Times both reflected and shaped broader media missteps in the lead-up to the Iraq War.
• The profound, often painful self-examination undertaken by journalists after the fact, wrestling with what could have been done differently.

This episode is essential for anyone interested in media ethics, the construction of public narratives, and the human fallibility at the heart of historic turning points.

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Transcript

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[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

All right, it says we're now recording. It says Slate. Slow burn. Eight seconds. Here we go.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

Stephen Engelberg is the editor in chief of ProPublica. Back in 2001, he was the investigations editor for the New York Times. One of his reporters was a Times veteran named Judith Miller.

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

Maybe a couple of weeks after July 4, 2001, Judy came to my desk and she said, I've got an amazing story. We've got to go. We've got to go fast. This is really astounding stuff.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

And.

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

And I said, okay, okay, what do you got?

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

What she had did sound amazing. An intercept of a conversation between two members of Al Qaeda.

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

And the first guy says something along the lines of, it's really a shame the United States did not retaliate for the attack on the USS Cole, which was an American ship that had been attacked by a sort of suicide bombing dinghy. And then the second guy says, well, don't worry, we're planning something so big, they're going to have to retaliate.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

Miller had been covering Islamic extremism for years. It seemed like she might have a huge scoop. Plans by known terrorists to launch a major attack against the United States. Engelberg was interested, but first he needed to know where the story came from.

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

So what do we know? I mean, who are these two guys? And she said, my source doesn't seem to know. Where are they? What country are they in? Are they high level, low level? Are they just two guys talking, you know, in a bar? Of course they're Al Qaeda, they're not in a bar. But I was sort of speaking metaphorically.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

Miller didn't have those answers, but said she'd try to find out more.

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

She came back and said, I just can't get any more detail on this. This is what we've got. Can we write a story? And I said, judy, I just don't see how. I said, I see paragraphs one and maybe two, but what's paragraphs three, four, and five? We can't do it.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

The story never ran. Two months later, Al Qaeda hijacked four planes and killed 3,000 people.

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

And of course, you know, after 91 1, we both sort of at some point caught our breath and talked about this and sort of thought, wow, what if we had done the story? You know, would it have changed history? Were they really onto this thing? Was it just a coincidence? What was it?

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

And do you feel like if you'd let her run that story, Bush might have paid more attention to that baby, who knows?

[Host or Narrator (possibly a Slate or Slow Burn producer)]

You know, I just didn't think we had enough.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

There are two ways to think about the decision to spike that story. The first, this is exactly how journalism is supposed to work. An aggressive reporter got a tantalizing bit of information, a careful editor pushed back to make sure it was properly sourced. It turned out the story just wasn't there. So the New York Times didn't publish it, and the paper's journalistic standards were upheld. The second way to think about the New York Times could have had one of the biggest scoops in history if they'd pushed harder to get it, or maybe if they'd gone depressed with something that wasn't 100% buttoned up. You can even imagine a scenario where the paper prints a story and helps prevent the 911 attacks. Journalists have to balance two competing get the biggest story you can before the competition does, but also make sure that what you're publishing is true. Sometimes they end up being cautious, and big news never makes it into the paper. Sometimes they're aggressive, and that can cause its own set of problems. In the run up to the Iraq war, almost no one was more aggressive than Judith Miller.

[Judith Miller]

Why did I believe the people I believed? Why did I believe the people who talked to me and not the people who wouldn't? Because these people, by and large, not all of them, but most of them, had been the very same people who, who were warning us about al Qaeda and 9 11. I had every reason to believe them because they had been right before. I got it wrong. I got it wrong because I believed people who also believed themselves.

[Noreen Malone (Host of Slow Burn)]

This is Slow Burn. I'm your host Noreen Malone. If you read the New York Times in 2002 and 2003, you probably believe the Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction in the year before the invasion of Iraq. The media mostly backed the administration's narrative about wmd, even when the evidence was thin. So how did the press get the question of WMDs so wrong? Why did so many reporters end up looking so credulous? And why was Judith Miller one who took the fall? This is Episode seven Judy.

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