White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan refuted the secret Downing Street memo on Monday, saying that it was "flat out wrong," even though he "not read the specific memo."
The memo is the official record of a meeting of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisors on July 23, 2002. It describes how intelligence on Iraq was being spun by the Americans to justify war. The Times of London published the memo on May 1.
That day, The Guardian ran a feature article on U.S. influence in the runup to war in Iraq. They obtained documents showing that the British Attorney General questioned the legality of the war.
On May 2, The Guardian revealed a memo to Blair from foreign policy advisor Sir David Manning, which documented a meeting with Condoleezza Rice on March 14, 2002. Manning told Rice that "you [Blair] would not budge in your support for regime change but you had to manage a press, a parliament and a public opinion." In public, Blair was telling Parliment no decision had been made.
McClellan deflected attention from the secret memo he's never seen, the British Attorney General's legal advice and Condoleezza Rice's meeting to the furor over this week's voting procedures on "American Idol."
The talent contest will have multiple phone numbers assigned to finalists Bo Bice, Vonzell Solomon and Carrie Underwood. McClellan said this "unprecedented practice prolongs and confuses the selection process." McClellan said it was clear all three remaining finalists deserve an up or down vote on getting a recording contract.
McClellan urged the FOX network to exercise their nuclear option over the producers of "American Idol." He called creator and executive producer Simon Fuller "a dangerous obstructionist."
Reporters quickly pointed out that multiple phone numbers are a time honored tradition, dating back to the early days of "American Idol." McClellan moved on to the White House position on the rumored cancellation of CBS' "Judging Amy." McClellan said, "The President agrees with Congressman DeLay that Judge Amy Gray must pay for her judicial indiscretions."
Article comments
1 - Shark
Nice post.
Too bad everybody missed this one.
(And this ain't satire; sadly, it's all true.)
2 - Shark
More evidence that Bush is an EVIL, LYING FUCK:
=============
From the SECRET MEMO:
"...The only way to overthrow it was likely to be by massive military action. Saddam was worried and expected an attack, probably by air and land, but he was not convinced that it would be immediate or overwhelming. His regime expected their neighbours to line up with the US. Saddam knew that regular army morale was poor. Real support for Saddam among the public was probably narrowly based.
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."
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Can't wait to hear the Bush apologists explain this one.
[chirp * chirp * chirp]
Wow. Almost as quite as the "Things Are Swell In Iraq!" crowd.
feh.
PS:
Dear RIGHT WING AMERICA-HATING PIGS:
we were right.
You were wrong.
Bush lied.
America suffers.
3 - Shark
"Almost as quite..."
Should be "quiet"
feh.
Get a dictionary, people!
4 - Justice
You conspiracy theorists need a life. Spend your energy on something that matters instead of trying to take someone down in the name of all that is good.
My brother-in-law is in a division of the CIA and he said there is so much more information about this and they can't release it because of morons like you can't handle it.
5 - Max Lincoln
By conspiracy theorists, Justice must mean the 89 Members of Congress and 433,000 and rising number of citizens who have signed an open letter to the President:
http://www.moveonpac.org/tellthetruth/
http://www.johnconyers.com
I guess Justice is talking about CIA information like this:
"TERRORISM: Bureaucracy and a lack of communication between the FBI and CIA contributed to missed chances to find two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers before the attacks, the Justice Department finds."
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/11858791.htm
Justice, my brother-in-law works for IBM. What's your point?