<<I never paid attention to the Judith Miller stories. My conclusions about the WMDs were based on the Intelligence Estimates and the revolving door of UN inspectors being blocked at every turn.
<<Your memory serves you wrong.>>
Well, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. My apologies, BT.
<<And as far as credibility concerning counterpunch and Schecter. How can we question their sources veracity if we are not told who they are.>>
You can't. I didn't claim they proved their respective stories to the highest standard of proof possible, short of catching it all on videotape. I say they are credible individuals who - - unlike McCain - - are not known to be liars and perjurers. These credible and unblemished individuals claim to have credible eye-witnesses, two or three of them in the case of Schechter, a number I'm not certain of in the Counterpunch story - - who can testify as to the fact of what McCain called his wife in public and I woiuld assume can testify either as eye-witnesses or as to the existence of medical or hospital records showing that on three occasions Cindy McCain sought help for injuries consistent with the application of violent force.
Now these guys are not raving lunatics and they are not known to be liars and perjurers, or psychopaths, so when they have something to say, I think it's logical to believe them unless and/or until they are proven to be liars. madmen, mental incompetents or otherwise unreliable. This has not happened. So I believe what they say and I believe that they must consider the witnesses with whom they spoke to be reliable as well.
Are there firmer foundations on which their respective stories could theoretically stand? Of course - - named sources, for one. However in the real world every story isn't an ideal story. Sometimes the higher forms of proof are lacking and we have to go with a lower form. When a higher form of evidence IS available on the request of a person injured by the lower-form evidence and the person injured refuses to produce it, whatever the reason, you have to take that as additional evidence that substantially strengthens the case against her.
<<And with out that second sourcing, the above have nothing.>>
If you could rate the reliability of a news story on a scale of 0 to 10, what we have is neither a 10 nor a 0, but it's as absurd to place the reliability of this story at zero as it would be to place it at 10. We have stories that I have no reason to disbelieve - - none at all. And, quite frankly, YOU have no good reason to disbelieve. A book contract coming out does not make everyone a liar. People can publish books and still retain their integrity. So I'd say, it's not a 10 (caught on videotape!) and it's not a 9 (named, reliable eyewitnesses) so it's a seven or eight. And unless and until you can provide me with some kind of evidence that Schecter and the Counterpunch reporters are (like McCain himself) proven liars and perjurers, or prone to place undue reliance on unreliable sources, then I keep the reliability of the story at a 7 or 8.