January 12, 2006 at 16:51:47

War Lies and Journalistic Constipation

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By David Swanson (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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Slickest Hypocrisy Award:
The Washington Post's Editorial Board published an unsigned editorial defending the Post's refusal to report on the Downing Street memos: "The memos add not a single fact to what was previously known about the administration's prewar deliberations. Not only that: They add nothing to what was publicly known in July 2002."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6706

As I've previously documented at some length, what may have been known to the Post's editors was never printed in its pages:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/407

The Post's editorial continues: "[T]he memos provide no information that would alter the conclusions of multiple independent investigations on both sides of the Atlantic, which were that U.S. and British intelligence agencies genuinely believed Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and that they were not led to that judgment by the Bush administration."

Well, there was THIS part of the memo: "C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action." C is another name for Dearlove. We know now where Dearlove go this information, but only because we look for our news outside of the Washington Post.

Best Pseudo-Democratic Apologia for Fascism Award:
A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist argued that because Bush had been "reelected" it didn't matter if he had lied us into a war, and Americans didn't mind it in the least: "The plain fact is that an amazing percentage of Americans just don't care about the facts on the Iraq war. They don't care that the WMD case collapsed like the house of cards it was, that the dark talk about mushroom clouds and Saddam-Osama links was hoohah. After Sept. 11, people were angry and they were scared. They wanted a leader who would not dither, who would just go out and kick some butt. Bush was that guy, in spades. If it turns out he kicked the wrong butt, then screwed up the aftermath to a bloody fare-thee-well, well, to many people that matters less than how he made them feel when they were reeling."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/197

Funniest False Promise Award:
Fox News provided this illuminating commentary, which ended on a false note:
KONDRACKE: It's going to be all about the Downing Street memo, you know, which alleges...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... you know, alleges that Bush had planned the, the war way in advance...
BARNES: Yes, yes, right.
KONDRACKE: ... and was, was using weapons of mass destruction...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... just as a, as a, as a talking point.
BARNES: You know what? That's a dry hole.
KONDRACKE: Yes, well, it's going to get, it's going to get explored.

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David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. (more...)

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