'Albanian' or 'Yugoslav' - You be the Judge!

The mix up in the story regarding the ethnicity of the plotters originated with the FBI press release and the subsequent AP story which just mirrored the release without bothering to ask the relevant questions. My Balkan heart tells me ... its a plot! Hoever, if the FBI was this confused about who the plotters were after over a year then ... pray!

Albanian' vs. 'Yugoslav' - Editorials/Op-Ed -
The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "


Early in this story, the Albanian connection emerged in some outlets, but "Yugoslav," a term we associate with Slobodan Milosevic or Josip Tito more than Islamist violence, persisted. The connotations of "Albanian" begin with the fact that 70 percent of Albanians are Muslim. Now, combine "Albanian" with the allegation of a thwarted assault-rifle attack on Fort Dix. This suggests a working hypothesis. The hypothesis: An attack by Islamist terrorists may just have been thwarted. It has nothing to do with anti-fascist partisans or Communist apparatchiks.
Our news organizations seem now to be acting upon the desire to avoid fueling that speculation as long as possible. We're not clear why, except for their biases, or perhaps their worry of offending people. Thus they conclude with quotes like this one, which appeared at the end of CBS's dispatch yesterday: " 'If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law,' said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented many of the detainees. 'But when the government says 'Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous.' "
No, it doesn't, and news organizations should not end stories with such spurious claims. The government can and should say "Islamic militants" if in fact there is credible evidence that the accused are Islamic militants. In this case, federal prosecutors have the recordings of an informant to illustrate it.
The American people are smart enough to figure it out. They need this information when it is available. As long as our news organizations fail to report the facts they know to be true, they are failing to do their job. They should not engage in "perception management."