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W E D N E S D A Y , J U L Y 2 0 , 2 0 0 5NYT: Going To War On A Hunch Okay By Themby Michael in New York on
7/20/2005 11:57:00 AMI can't let Tuesday's New York Times editorial pass withoutcomment. (I was travelling and couldn't post earlier.) Titled "AJar of Red Herring," it tried to clarify the issues surroundingRovegate. The NYT defended its reporter Judith Miller, madeclear the "waivers" were worthless and stated unequivocallythat Joseph Wilson had been honest and straightforward in hisJuly 2003 op-ed column and been vindicated. As theyreiterated, Wilson investigated a report that Iraq had tried tobuy uranium in Niger, found no evidence and went public whenBush made that claim anyway in his State of the Union addressin the weeks leading up to the war. Ultimately, those 16 wordswere repudiated, people offered to resign and Wilson wasproven 100% right. All fine.Then the NYT loses its mind. It writes:What really bothered Mr. Rove was Mr. Wilson's view thatthe administration had deliberately twisted the intelligenceon Iraq and that Mr. Bush had misled Americans about theneed for war. We don't know whether top officialsheard about Mr. Wilson's findings and ignored them,or whether the findings never reached the upperlevels - at the time, dissenting views on Iraq were notgetting much of an airing in the administration. There's alot we don't know about this case.That's absurd on numerous levels. First, we know that when officialswere unhappy with Wilson's report (they were desperate for someevidence to justify invading Iraq), they launched anotherinvestigation into the claim about Hussein buying uranium in Niger.That too came back with a flat "No go." So they launched a THIRDinvestigation. Again, the report said the rumour simply didn't holdwater. Then Bush tried to include the inflammatory charge in aspeech anyway and the CIA strenuously objected. The charge wasremoved. Finally, after three investigations and a tug of war betweenthe White House and the CIA over an earlier speech, the fateful 16words making a claim they couldn't back up was put in the Stateof the Union. Bush lied to the American people and soon we wereinvading Iraq. It wasn't until months later when Wilson bravely cameforward that we discovered that claim wasn't true.Now the NYT wants to try and give Bush the benefit of the doubt andsay, 'Okay, his administration tried three different times to prove thisrumour was true and couldn't. Then it tried to make the claim anywayand the CIA objected heatedly. Then Bush put the charge into hisState of the Union address, so maybe he had NO IDEA that threedifferent investigations concluded the rumour wasn't true and thatthe CIA had strenuously objected to its inclusion in an earlierspeech."This would be gross incompetence on a massive scale and bogglesthe mind -- any reasonable person would say giving so much benefitof the doubt was absurd. But who wants to underestimate theincompetence of the Bush administration?But the New York Times is forgetting one simple, obvious fact. ThePresident of the United States --in the weeks leading up to war -- toldthe American people that Hussein was trying to buy uranium in Nigerand HE DIDN'T KNOW IF IT WAS TRUE. We have every reason tobelieve Bush knew what he said was a lie, but it was impossible forhim to KNOW it was true because there wasn't enough evidence. Isthe New York Times really trying to lower the standard for Presidentswho want to go to war? Is the NYT really trying to suggest that it wasokay for Bush to flatly make the claim Hussein was trying to buyuranium when he couldn't possibly know for certain that it was true?This was a key element in Bush's justification for war. It was bandiedabout by his lackeys on talk shows and press conferences. Condi Ricesaid on TV that if we waited for a smoking gun it might very well be a
HuffPost PoliticsHuckabee's Huck Pac In Turmoil With StaffTurnover, Mounting Debts - Former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee's political action committee, HuckPac, is undergoing a "restructuring," ExecutiveDirector Sarah Huckabee said Wednesday....29 minutes ago
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7/20/2005 11:57:00 AMI can't let Tuesday's New York Times editorial pass withoutcomment. (I was travelling and couldn't post earlier.) Titled "AJar of Red Herring," it tried to clarify the issues surroundingRovegate. The NYT defended its reporter Judith Miller, madeclear the "waivers" were worthless and stated unequivocallythat Joseph Wilson had been honest and straightforward in hisJuly 2003 op-ed column and been vindicated. As theyreiterated, Wilson investigated a report that Iraq had tried tobuy uranium in Niger, found no evidence and went public whenBush made that claim anyway in his State of the Union addressin the weeks leading up to the war. Ultimately, those 16 wordswere repudiated, people offered to resign and Wilson wasproven 100% right. All fine.Then the NYT loses its mind. It writes:What really bothered Mr. Rove was Mr. Wilson's view thatthe administration had deliberately twisted the intelligenceon Iraq and that Mr. Bush had misled Americans about theneed for war. We don't know whether top officialsheard about Mr. Wilson's findings and ignored them,or whether the findings never reached the upperlevels - at the time, dissenting views on Iraq were notgetting much of an airing in the administration. There's alot we don't know about this case.That's absurd on numerous levels. First, we know that when officialswere unhappy with Wilson's report (they were desperate for someevidence to justify invading Iraq), they launched anotherinvestigation into the claim about Hussein buying uranium in Niger.That too came back with a flat "No go." So they launched a THIRDinvestigation. Again, the report said the rumour simply didn't holdwater. Then Bush tried to include the inflammatory charge in aspeech anyway and the CIA strenuously objected. The charge wasremoved. Finally, after three investigations and a tug of war betweenthe White House and the CIA over an earlier speech, the fateful 16words making a claim they couldn't back up was put in the Stateof the Union. Bush lied to the American people and soon we wereinvading Iraq. It wasn't until months later when Wilson bravely cameforward that we discovered that claim wasn't true.Now the NYT wants to try and give Bush the benefit of the doubt andsay, 'Okay, his administration tried three different times to prove thisrumour was true and couldn't. Then it tried to make the claim anywayand the CIA objected heatedly. Then Bush put the charge into hisState of the Union address, so maybe he had NO IDEA that threedifferent investigations concluded the rumour wasn't true and thatthe CIA had strenuously objected to its inclusion in an earlierspeech."This would be gross incompetence on a massive scale and bogglesthe mind -- any reasonable person would say giving so much benefitof the doubt was absurd. But who wants to underestimate theincompetence of the Bush administration?But the New York Times is forgetting one simple, obvious fact. ThePresident of the United States --in the weeks leading up to war -- toldthe American people that Hussein was trying to buy uranium in Nigerand HE DIDN'T KNOW IF IT WAS TRUE. We have every reason tobelieve Bush knew what he said was a lie, but it was impossible forhim to KNOW it was true because there wasn't enough evidence. Isthe New York Times really trying to lower the standard for Presidentswho want to go to war? Is the NYT really trying to suggest that it wasokay for Bush to flatly make the claim Hussein was trying to buyuranium when he couldn't possibly know for certain that it was true?This was a key element in Bush's justification for war. It was bandiedabout by his lackeys on talk shows and press conferences. Condi Ricesaid on TV that if we waited for a smoking gun it might very well be a
HuffPost PoliticsHuckabee's Huck Pac In Turmoil With StaffTurnover, Mounting Debts - Former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee's political action committee, HuckPac, is undergoing a "restructuring," ExecutiveDirector Sarah Huckabee said Wednesday....29 minutes ago
Ben SmithGoing small - My story tonight: President BarackObama came alive about 50 minutes intoWednesday night’s news conference – whensomebo51 minutes ago
FiredoglakeLate Late Night FDL: What Eclipse? - A new videofrom Fatoumata Diawara, and and oldie from Bob.1 hour ago
Daily KosOpen Thread and Diary Rescue - *Today, srkp23(pulling a double shift), ybruti, taylormattd,ItsJessMe and vcmvo2 combed through hundredsof diaries to find this powerful list. Today's...1 hour ago
EschatonOvernight - Folk On. Newish.2 hours agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
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The TreatmentObama Has a Grown-UpTalk With America(Gulp)2 hours agoEzra KleinTab Dump6 hours agoWonk RoomSen. Byron Dorgan:The ‘Trade’ InCap-And-Trade ‘MakesNo Sense To Me’7 hours agoHealth BeatTruth Squad: WallStreet Journal HealthCare Editorial Wrong onthe Facts . . .8 hours agoDaily DoseProviders Endorse 'Payfor Value' ProposalsG AY P O L I T I C S
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A B O U TA M E R I C A B L O GWhy AMERICAblog?Because a great nationdeserves the truth.What issues do youcover?US politics overall with aparticular focus on theObama Administration, theradical right, and civilrights.Who are you?John AravosisEditorWashington, DCJoe SudbayDeputy EditorWashington, DCChris RyanAssociate EditorParis, FranceRobert ArenaContributing EditorBaltimore, MarylandJacki SchechnerContributing EditorWashington, DCAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: NYT: ...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/nyt-going-to-war-on-hun...
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© 2009 - John Aravosis | Design maintenance by Jason RosenbaumSend me your tips: americablog@starpower.netAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: NYT: ...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/nyt-going-to-war-on-hun...
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