Never Too Late To Correct

A New York Times Editor's Note today seeks to correct information first reported back on Sept. 3.

Regarding the prosecution of a gang of bank robbers in Baghdad, no less, the piece follows the usual Times approach that nothing is too small to correct, or apparently too late.

See it below:

EDITORS' NOTE

An article on Sept. 3, 2009, recounted the prosecution of a gang that robbed a Baghdad bank and killed eight bank guards in July 2009. The article reported that testimony at the trial “established” that five of the nine accused were in Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi's bodyguard battalion. While it was undisputed that two of the nine accused were in his bodyguard battalion (one of whom was acquitted), the identities of the others remained a subject of dispute. Some evidence suggested that two were not security officials and that the others had worked in security in the neighborhood but were not assigned to Mr. Abdul Mahdi's battalion at the time of the incident.

Similarly, the article reported that the gang “forgot about the security cameras” and “they forgot about sunrise, which came before they finished.” The article should have noted that there was evidence that the cameras were not operational at the time of the robbery and that the gang had escaped before dawn. Finally, the article misidentified one of the accused men, Ahmad Khalaf Dhamad, as Ahmed Khalid.