By now most people have heard by the disgraced C.I.A. officer stationed in Algiers, Andrew Warren, who drugged and raped several women.

What is most interesting about this North African scandal is that it has received more attention in the American press than on al-Jazeera.

In recent years the Doha-based 24/7 news channel has come under more and more American pressure to stop broadcasting unpopular U.S. actions in the region. The Qatari emir once said that all Congressional delegations to the nation bring up the issue of al-Jazeera. Alas, the Foreign Minister in Qatar was forced al-Jazeera to modify its criticism of America’s policy so as to appease American critics.

The network has demonstrable toned down its previously astute critical coverage.

al-Jazeera is currently ignoring the Warren affair. This cannot be an innocent omission. This story is front-page, so to speak, material. An American C.I.A. embassy laison running a sex chamber! This is the stuff novels are made out of. al-Jazeera’s turning of the cheek is no doubt due to a motivation to not antagonize the new Obama administration by covering up for the illegality of an American official.