In the July 2 edition of the Boston Phoenix, reporter Jason Vest revealed the identity of Anonymous -- author of "Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terrorism" -- as CIA analyst Michael Scheuer. Other print and online media outlets have since published his name. Writing for Slate, Jack Shafer then wonders why the Washington Post and the New York Times continue their attempts to perpetuate Scheuer's deflated anonymity. Writes Shafer, "James Risen reports in the Aug. 5 New York Times that Anonymous is 'known publicly only as Mike,' which is true if the definition of the public doesn't include the readership of the Phoenix."
The unidentified author of "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" is Michael Scheuer, a CIA analyst based in Langley, Va., according to Jason Vest. The freelance writer reports in the Phoenix that Scheuer doesn't want to be anonymous at all but is compelled to keep his identity secret because of arcane classified regulations. Vest earlier wrote an article about a secret memo on Iraq that appeared in dozens of AAN papers.
Writing in "The Reliable Source," Richard Leiby (pictured) presents evidence to support the theory that Michael Rubin wrote the memo that was the subject of Jason Vest's story for the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies last week. Leiby describes Rubin as "a thirty-something neocon intellectual" who served as a Coalition Provisional Authority political officer in Iraq for nine months. He is now a scholar at the "hawkish American Enterprise Institute." Rubin wouldn't confirm or deny that he wrote the memo.
