Jeffrey Feltman Sends Letter To The New York Times About Al-Akhbar

Feltman:

One of the curiosities I discovered as ambassador to Lebanon was the number of Western journalists […] who, while enjoying the fine wines and nightlife of Beirut, romanticized Hezbollah and its associates like Al Akhbar as somehow the authentic voices of the oppressed Lebanese masses. Yet, I don’t think that many of those Western liberals would wish to live in a state dominated by an unaccountable clerical militia and with Al Akhbar providing the news.

Samir Kassir and Gebran Tueni, who worked for the newspaper An Nahar and were killed by car bombs, and the grievously mutilated but courageous television journalist May Chidiac paid the price for real journalism in Lebanon.

Should he have written that letter? I’m not sure. I think he should have simply ignored the article, because by taking the time to write such a long letter, he allowed Al-Akhbar admirers to say that this is proof that Al-Akhbar did annoy him like intended.

Update: Al-Akhbar responds to Feltman’s letter.