New York Times Alters Hagel Story to Eliminate Obama’s Dismissive Analysis of ISIS

Yesterday, The New York
Times
broke the story that Chuck Hagel was resigning under pressure
(fired) as secretary of defense. The story noted the struggle Hagel
had trying to gain any traction within President Barack Obama’s
insider-run administration, his lack of much influence with the
establishment, and it pointed out when Hagel’s comments deviated
from the administration’s.

One notable example was how the two men discussed the Islamic
State (ISIS). Early in the year, President Barack Obama compared
the terrorist group to a
junior varsity basketball squad putting on the Lakers’ uniform.
This seemed a bit dismissive of what ISIS might be able to
accomplish, especially in retrospect (a United Nations expert
estimates ISIS has made up to
$45 million in ransoms in the past year). By contrast, Hagel
described ISIS as an “imminent threat to all we have,” an
exaggeration in the other direction. The New York Times
included a paragraph in his story with both examples to show the
difference between the two men’s positions.

Now that paragraph is gone. It was there
when I wrote about Hagel stepping down yesterday. Now it has
disappeared. Erick Erickson at
Red State notes the change here, as well the removal of a
sentence where sources said that Hagel had been the kind of defense
secretary the president had wanted.

What’s left behind is a story that has purged any reference that
the president ever downplayed ISIS while Hagel played it up and
makes it appear that Gen. Martin Dempsey was the main guy pushing
for action against ISIS.

The story has had content added as well, as The New York
Times folded in more responses to Hagel’s resignation as it
unfolded yesterday morning. But there is no explanation as to why
that paragraph was deleted or any acknowledgment that it even
happened.