Miller's Crossing

Franklin Foer has written a lengthy and unflattering profile of New York Times reporter Judith Miller, less than a week after an editors' note in her newspaper criticized some of her Iraq-related reporting. Foer identifies former Executive Editor Howell Raines as the key enabler for some of her shoddiest work. He refers to Miller's "seemingly bottomless ambition," and her "pair of big feet that would stomp on colleagues in her way and even crunch a few bystanders," but many of the most critical comments come from Miller's colleagues at the paper. Some reporters at the Times claim they have told their editors they will never share a byline with her. "She considers us to be her minions," says one. Foer also explains how the neoconservatives got Miller to publish their propaganda: "While Miller might not have intended to march in lockstep with these hawks, she was caught up in an almost irresistible cycle. Because she kept printing the neocon party line, the neocons kept coming to her with huge stories and great quotes, constantly expanding her access."