A Tale of Two Columns

On Tuesday, August 28, 2012, The New York Times ran an editorial, “Iran’s Nuclear Quest,” that begins, “Iran appears to have installed a few hundred more centrifuges at its deep underground site known as Fordow, thus enhancing its ability to produce uranium enriched to 20 percent, a purity that can be converted relatively quickly to bomb-grade fuel.”

Though noting, “Tehran’s nuclear ambitions are clearly dangerous to Israel and the region,” editors quote one official as saying Iran’s nuclear enrichment, in violation of numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, is “not a game-changer.”

So who is singled out for the lion’s share of scorn from The Times? You guessed it — Israel:

…The [American] administration argues that Iran is not on the verge of producing a weapon and that the United Nations inspectors will provide warning before it gets to that point.

Washington’s caution is well-placed, especially when set against the overheated statements of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that time is running out. He has never warmed to the idea of negotiations between Iran and the United States and other major powers. The speculation now is that he is escalating his warnings before the United States election in a cynical gambit to get President Obama’s agreement to act against Iran soon.

The most Times editors have to say about Iran’s activities is that the fruitlessness of sanctions and negotiations is “disappointing.”

Contrast this with an Op-Ed in The Wall Street Journal on the same day, “Nuclear-Weapon States Aren’t Created Equal,” written by Warren Kozak. Kozak has this to say about Iran’s nuclear ambitions:

So as the debate continues this August on how to contain an Iran run by a totalitarian theocracy, the world also notes that the regime in Tehran doesn’t just threaten its opponents but has repeatedly acted on those threats — taking over embassies (1979-81), killing hundreds of American Marines in Lebanon (1983) and Jews in Argentina (1992 and 1994), killing even more Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan (2003 to the present), and killing its own citizens who dared to protest a fraudulent presidential election (2009).

Iran’s response to sanctions? It turns up the speed of its nuclear accelerators, test-fires its rockets and raises the volume of its threats.

[…]

People rightly grow anxious when the irrational mind with greater and greater global ambitions takes control of this deadly weaponry. And this anxiety increases further when those irrational minds have proven time and again their determination to create havoc.

And, about Israel, he writes:

In spite of a world-wide chorus of detractors accusing Israel of everything from apartheid to genocide, the sound mind understands that this nation, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, is also one its few rational actors.

Israel has never threatened the existence of its neighbors or threatened to wipe another country off the map. It has never slaughtered its own population. It has never held large “Death to (fill in the country) rallies” in its public squares. In fact, Israel’s public demonstrations have consisted of peace rallies, musical concerts, gay-pride rallies and public mourning of its victims of terror.

As CAMERA has noted in the past:

Despite the unbalanced editorials, many people continue to subscribe to The New York Times — sometimes because of the popular crossword puzzles! For anyone in this category, there are New York Times crossword puzzle books. Buy one of those.