With a little help, the Times strikes again

It is hard to comprehend the casual malice of the New York Times toward the national security of the United States. Today, with a little help from “current and former intelligence officials,” the Times’s Matthew Rosenberg and Adam Goldman call out Michael D’Andrea, the CIA officer newly appointed to run the agency’s Iran operations. The Times explains its perfidy:

The C.I.A. declined to comment on Mr. D’Andrea’s role, saying it does not discuss the identities or work of clandestine officials. The [current and former intelligence] officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because Mr. D’Andrea remains undercover, as do many senior officials based at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Va….The New York Times is naming Mr. D’Andrea because his identity was previously published in news reports, and he is leading an important new administration initiative against Iran.

A footnote about those “previously published” news reports. In the version of the story just posted online, the Times links — can you guess? — to its own 2015 story by Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo, as I have it above.

The current Times story is a deeply nasty piece of work. Its jaunty tone belies the the utter lameness of its pretext for exposing Mr. D’Andrea.

A reader points out that the Times also gratuitously reports that D’Andrea is a convert to Islam. Apparently the Times is not aware of the view extremist Islamic terror organizations take against “apostates” to their version of Islam. “So,” our reader comments, the Times “has put two very big targets on his back.” Perhaps the Times will follow up with D’Andrea’s home address and the schools his children attend, although they may figure the mullahs can take it from here.

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