Reports of White House Deception Anger White House
12th April 2006
by gordo
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan responds to reports of deceptions
The Washington Post reported today that President Bush told Americans that biological weapons laboratories had been found in Iraq, even after the White House knew that no such labs had been found. Other media outlets have begun reporting the story, leading Press Secretary Scott McClellan to say this:
You know, I saw some reporting talking about how this latest revelation — which is not something that is new; this is all old information that’s being rehashed — was an embarrassment for the White House. No, it’s an embarrassment for the media that is out there reporting this.
I brought up with some of you earlier today some of the reporting that was based of this Washington Post report. And I talked to one of network about it…they expressed their apologies to the White House.
I hope they will go and publicly apologize on the air about the statements that were made, because I think it is important given that they made those statements in front of all their viewers. So we look forward to that happening as well.
I don’t think that many apologies will be forthcoming, because the bare fact is that what the Washington Post reproted was true. Here is the opening of reporter Joby Warrick’s account:
On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile “biological laboratories.” He declared, “We have found the weapons of mass destruction.”
The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.
A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq — not made public until now — had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president’s statement.
The three-page field report and a 122-page final report three weeks later were stamped “secret” and shelved. Meanwhile, for nearly a year, administration and intelligence officials continued to publicly assert that the trailers were weapons factories.
So when Bush said publicly that biological laboratories had been found, the best information available to the White House indicated that the “laboratories” had nothing to do with biological weapons. And the deception continued for months.
Now McClellan is once again trying to deflect criticism by attacking the press. So what was the Post supposed to do? Refuse to report the information it had uncovered? And were other outlets supposed to ignore the relevations? In what way would that have served their readers and viewers?
This is the sort of behavior that one expects from a pathological liar. They lie, they lie about lying, and they attack those who expose their lies. It works until people start finding out that they’ve been deceived. Once that happens, the attacks start to look like what they are: deperate, pathetic attempts to justify the unjustifiable.
April 12th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Love the picture!
April 12th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Gordo,
That angle lets all the fire from McClellan out. Man that makes me miss being a young Republican!
Okay, no it doesn’t.
Clif
April 12th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
“And I talked to one of network about it…they expressed their apologies to the White House.”
And how was Fox today, Scott?
April 12th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
So they resort to bluster these days?
THey are loosing their cool.. oh my ..what they gonna do next? bomb Iran and snap at CNN?
April 12th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Kira–
I could definitely see Roger Ailes apologizing. I left off what I thought was a hilarious statement by McClellan, also reported by Think Progress:
So Scotty, how is that not the point?
April 12th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
My guess is McClellan will get a job over at Network F as soon as this gig is up. Oh, newsflash, this gig is almost up.
Clif