Prez Iraq team fought to squelch war critics (WHIG article, devastating)

[MADem]

This article lays it out plainly for the straphangers and the folks who are just too busy with their own lives and cannot wrap their heads around this whole mess--so cleanly written, simple, and will make people start paying attention who have not been up to this time!
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/357109p-304302c....

WASHINGTON - It was called the White House Iraq Group and its job was to make the case that Saddam Hussein had nuclear and biochemical weapons. ...."There were a number of occasions when White House officials or Vice President staffers, or others, wanted to push the envelope on things," an ex-intelligence official said. "The agency would say, 'We just don't have the intelligence to substantiate that.'" When Wilson was sent by his wife to Africa to research the claims, he showed the documents claiming Saddam tried to buy the uranium were forgeries.

"People in the Iraq group then got very frustrated. It was a side show," said a source familiar with WHIG.

Besides Rove and Libby, the group included senior White House aides Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, James Wilkinson, Nicholas Calio, Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley. WHIG also was doing more than just public relations, said a second former intel officer.

"They were funneling information to Judy Miller. Judy was a charter member," the source said.

[IChing]

1. Damn I hate to be right about a charter member like... (nominated)

Like "JUDAS" miller

[Singular73]

22. Dont get excited

This is just a leak from the Rove team to get the Cheney team indicted.

[MADem]

29. Well, that is just silly, both Rove and Scooter were on the WHIG

...and Judy was head cheerleader of the group. Smearing Scooter ain't gonna save him! http://www.thinkprogress.org/leak-scandal

MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Rove was a regular participant in the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House Iraq Group. The main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of the “marketing” of going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at home. One clear example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear rhetoric” during the pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term ‘mushroom cloud’ into the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The group included the other individual who has been confirmed as a leaker, Lewis Libby.

[ewagner]

2. OK..it's THE DAILY NEWS, but still..........

that's one helluva story...

[MADem]

6. I know! But hey, it is an ACCESSIBLE PUBLICATION

When they are preaching to the folks who buy the paper for the usual tug-at-the-heartstrings human interest story and the sports scores, that means this scandal, at long last, has grown wings and taken flight. This isn't a bunch of fat, boring bastards sitting around Tim Russert's foolish table, droning on, this is news for the everyday folk, who will not sit through an hour of MEET THE POTATOHEAD.

I think this article, and the other one they did, are significant because they are breaking it down for the folks who either do not have the time or the patience to get the fancy-shmancy, more scholarly version of the issue!

[damntexdem]

13. But where's Bolton?

Wasn't Hadley one of his minions?

[MADem]

18. Hannah USED TO work for him, but was seconded to Cheney's

office. Makes me wonder if Hannah did not serve as a go-between betwixt the WH and Moustache Man....

[lanlady]

35. Steve Hadley--

--was Condi's deputy when she headed the Nat Sec Council. I don't believe he ever worked for Bolton.

[MADem]

43. John HANNAH did, though! nt

[maryallen]

40. Well, SOMEBODY'S gotta do it because ...

It sure as hell won't be the New York Times.

[0007]

42. You got that right!

[iconoclastNYC]

47. Daily News is left wing whats your beef with it?

[jrw14125]

3. still pushing this de-bunked talking point, though...

"When Wilson was sent by his wife to Africa to research the claims..."

[Carla in Ca]

10. Agreed, that has been debunked

The other point is to remember it was the CIA who called for this investigation. They thought this matter important enough to take it to the DOJ. Funny how the righties seem to omit that little tidbit.

[MoJoWorkin]

20. yeah, I caught that too--Sooooo frustrating!

[longship]

4. NY Daily News preempts WaPo and NYT, again!!

There are some reputable news outlets who do not cower in their vaulted board rooms with their lawyers over every story. The Daily News seems to have picked up the slack here. They have jumped on this Rove/Plame/WMD thing very heavily. Furthermore, they seem to be the only newspaper which is on top of things. This is the third major revelation coming from NYDN in as many days.

Kudos to you, NY Daily News.

on edit: And by the way NYDN, Valerie Wilson did *not* send her husband to Niger. She had no authority to do so.

[BeHereNow]

5. And the Monkey King had NO idea

What this little group was up to, I suppose...
NOT!
BHN

[damntexdem]

17. The sad thing about the Bushista Administration is that ...

this could even be true.

I don't think that it's true, but it damn-well COULD be.

[punpirate]

41. Let us keep in mind that WHIG was created...

... at the direction of Andrew Card. Card is Bush's chief of staff--ipso facto, Bush directed that the group be created.

Therefore, Bush knew of it, and was likely kept abreast of its activities through the group manager, Bush's chief of staff....

[Bozita]

7. So Judy was the Armstrong Williams of the rush to war

bloodthirsty whore!

[MADem]

8. Ha! Well said---and that raises ANOTHER POINT

I asked this in another thread, but I will ask it again: WAS SHE ON THE PAYROLL???

I can't see Mata Hari Miller Run Amok doing her bit for her country for purely altruistic motives. Is her mattress stuffed with cash, or have her bank accounts had some interesting transactions???

Follow the money!

[Carla in Ca]

15. A good question

Isn't it absolutely amazing how many facets of all this she is involved in? Now we find she is part of WHIG! Yesterday we find out she is in trouble regarding a prisoner's abuse that she witnessed?! She was in Wyoming when Cheney was?!

A big deal is being made as to her involvement in the Plame outing because, as we know, she didn't write any articles on it. It makes me think she is less a journalist, but a mole at the NYT.

[MADem]

21. This could spawn a harrowing number of PHOTOSHOPS!!!

You know those "BERT IS EVIL" classics? Well, Judy seems to be everywhere too!

[Carla in Ca]

26. LOL...How about a Where's Waldo? montage

n/t

[Bozita]

19. Possibly an affair in lieu of a check?

[hwmnbn]

25. eeuuwwwwwwwww!!....

Judy and Scooter? 2-hour breakfast meeting in a hotel dining room? hmmm. You may have a point.

[JoFerret]

39. Judy and Ricardo (Sanchez)

embedded literally in Iraq.

[warrens]

23. I doubt she had to be paid

She was given ACCESS, which meant EXCLUSIVES, which meant FRONT PAGE, ABOVE THE FOLD. She had a fat book contract (since canceled), so there were some bucks there, but she was making a good living at the Times.

[TexasLawyer]

28. The coin of Judy's realm

is access.

[ewagner]

24. Check her bank accounts!!!!

I'm sure Fitz looked at this but still...the suspicion is still there.

[bunny planet]

9. Seems like the Bushies seriously pissed off somebody at the Daily News.

They are relentlessly going after them. Daily News is a working class, blue collar paper ordinarily, but in NYC, that means, when you cross us, watch out.

[Brooklyn Michael]

46. Nahhhh...you're giving them too much credit

The Daily News used to be, at best, a moderate rag (but still a rag*)...then when Monica-gate was at its most heated, they had no problem jumping on the sleaze-wagon because, hey, it sold papers. They basically stick their thumbs out the window to see which way the wind is blowing (after pulling them out of their asses, of course), and then act like they (the editors) felt that way the whole time.

They've been blowing hot love kisses to the administration for the last 5 years....but now that things are breaking down, they're trying to switch sides and be "critical".

Don't get me wrong....better late than never....but I'm not exactly going to award them the Medal of Freedom or praise their integrity. They're just trying to sell papers, and they're finally sensing that Bush's popularity is SO low, that they better get on the bandwagon pronto...

(*note* - with the exception of Lars Erik-Nelson, an OUTSTANDING columnist who died far, far too early and had a great knack for calling bullshit as he saw it, no matter which party it came from - but more often from republicans because, well, that's where most bullshit comes from....)

[Lasher]

11. Congratulations of this excellent find

MADem,

I was very pleased to have read this article. It is basic and brief, exactly the kind of information I want to share with others who may not be a political junkie such as I.

[MADem]

16. I have found myself getting too wrapped around the details to

cleanly explain the mess to people who don't watch the news or read a paper. That was why I was so pleased to see this, in the same choppy style that they use to tell us about a fireman getting a kitty out of a drainpipe, or a little girl who bravely escaped from a pervert!!

[hang a left]

12. OMG

"They were funneling information to Judy Miller. Judy was a charter member," the source said."


Somebody finally said it.

[jrthin]

14. If the NY Times

fails to fire Miller, it then shows they are no better than her and can therefore be considered a propaganda newspaper.

[emulatorloo]

27. kick n/t

[Seansky]

30. Wrong: When Wilson was sent by his wife to Africa

[Rose Siding]

31. Good catch

'Truthiness' in reporting

[cantstandbush]

32. Once again, Wilson was not "sent by his wife" to investigate Niger.

How long are we going to let this lie go on and on in the MSM?

[HootieMcBoob]

34. a few letters to the editor of the daily news are called for

I have a feeling that this old chestnut is going to be put to rest after the indictments go out. It's just plain bs.

[Tom Joad]

33. Judy a charter member? That is why she got this award...

The Presidential Finger Award.

It is presented to (dis)honor those who have done something special to further the agenda of Bush & Company. We have finally decided upon a special award, one that will be presented by no one less than President Bush himself. We call it the Presidential Finger Award® or, as it is affectionately known, "The Finger".

In the video at the website, Mr. Bush expresses something "special", and from the heart. Obscene? Well yes, yes it is. That is why we are using this gesture to honor those who have, in their own way, advanced the agenda of militarism, economic injustice, racism- the real obscenities. It is our way of saying, "Bush & Company, Right Back at Ya!"

See it at http://www.tomjoad.org/presidentialfinger.htm

[lanlady]

36. it wasn't information they were funneling to Judy

They were peddling bogey man fiction.

[leftchick]

37. Wilson was sent by his wife eh?

<sigh>

Ah well, at least the rest makes up for that glaring lie. Great piece for hearing of WHIG for the first time.

nominated!

[tblue37]

38. This is bullshit:

"When Wilson was sent by his wife to Africa to research the claims."

Plame had no authority to send him to do any such thing.

[MADem]

45. Of course it is bullshit...BUT

If some covert person way down in the food chain can actually MAKE decisions of that sort, there is something wrong with the process. That is sort of like having the lunch ladies at the high school decide who gets a diploma--sure, they play a key role in the efficient running of the school, but they do not have the "whole bubble." In and of itself, the assertion does not pass the smell test.

But it is a two edged sword, you see.

This is supposed to be an administration that has their finger in every pie, that runs the joint like a corporation, that makes careful, well-vetted decisions. If an underling at CIA is making these calls, on her own, without any supervisory approval process (we know this is not the case, but suspend objections for just a second), then the persons in charge over her are ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH.

No matter how it plays out, the top dogs look either unconcerned, uncaring, or incompetent. Or all three...

[lovuian]

44. The American Whig Party (1834-1856) or is that 1999-2005 :)

The American Whig Party (1834-1856) or is that 1999-2005
I'm hearing all about the WHIGS and thought we need to see that repeat in History and how this party was destroyed!!!

have a seat for this History Lesson

The name came into use in the 1680s in England when there was the threat of establishment of a line of Catholic Kings, starting with James II. The Protestant element, who held that Parliament could prevent such a succession, came to be called Whigs after a radical Presbyterian group in Scotland, the Whigamores

National Republicans were more generally known as Whigs, a name evocative of the political faction in opposition to the English Crown during the era of the Stuarts (17th Century);

the most notable being the Anti-Masonic party (Interesting)
the Whigs suffered from factionalism throughout their existence (Isn't that so true to this day fracture is a good word for it)

On the other hand, the Whigs had a superb network of newspapers that provided an internal information system, and in the 1840s (Judith Miller and the NYTimes Novak Chris Mathews and Tim Russert ya the WHIGS has good network)


The Whigs won votes in every socio-economic category, but appealed more to the professional classes: (Citicorp)Bankers, storekeepers(Walmart), factory owners(GE), commercially-oriented farmers(Phillip Morris) and large-scale planters largely supported the Whigs. In general, commercial and manufacturing towns and areas voted Whig, save for Democratic wards in Irish Catholic (Fitzgerald) and German immigrant communities; the Democrats often sharpened their appeals to the poor by ridiculing the Whigs' aristocratic pretensions(BUSH).


Protestant religious revivals also injected a moralistic element into the Whig ranks, which sent many targets of moralism (such as those affected by calls for prohibition)(0r Christian Right & PNAC) to seek refuge within the Democratic party.


So History repeats its self!!! We see the rise and fall of a party that never could!!!

It was a BAD CHOICE for a name!!!

[brentspeak]

48. They need some names to give teeth to this story

Named sources. People willing to step out of shadows to speak up.