Why do they say that "The Pentagon denies..."?

On the hourly newscasts on NPR today, they've been giving prominent play to the New Yorker article. But they always include the statement that "The Pentagon denies the charges."

I've read the Pentagon's response and, to me, there is no denial in there at all. They just say it is "full of inaccuracies." That could mean anything, including grammatical errors or misspelled names. They never say what specifically is inaccurate, nor do they say the facts in the story are wrong.

I know this isn't anything new. But I'd sure like the media to say something like, "The Pentagon angrily attacked the release of the story, but didn't deny any of its assertions." That is, after all, exactly what they are doing.

It said nothing. It just stood there.

"official, requesting anonymity" = plausible deniability. You are meant to be confused. Up is down, left is right, war is peace, what is the truth? Is it the "truth" or the truth?