Agree with everything you said except
Although this story hardy deserved forty some odd 1st page treatments in the NYT, it still is a disgrace.
Deservingness of a newspaper story is roughly proportional to the number of clicks it gets on the internet. The Abu Graib pix got more clicks than Paris Hilton, Janet Jackson, and Asia Carrera (bet you know the reference) put together. The purpose of a newspaper is to sell newspapers, after all.
