Conason: The Last Laugh

[kskiska]

History will hold Bush and Blair accountable for their lies in the run-up to the Iraq war, even if the D.C. press corps just finds them funny.

On Tuesday, more than a month after the "Downing Street memo" first appeared on Britain's front pages, a Reuters correspondent asked George W. Bush and Tony Blair to explain the secret document that says the Bush administration had decided by July 2002 to invade Iraq -- and that the intelligence on Saddam Hussein's arsenal was then being "fixed" to bolster an otherwise exceedingly "thin" justification for war.

While the president and the prime minister airily attempted to dismiss the explosive memo -- just as many mainstream and conservative journalists in the United States did at first -- they have a lot more explaining to do. History will hold them accountable even if the press does not. For unlike previous indications of Bush's duplicity in promoting the war, this document provides historical evidence of a kind that usually remains hidden in a vault for years or even decades.

The Downing Street memo meets a higher standard of proof than gossip from one of Bob Woodward's unnamed sources or the memoirs of a disgruntled former official like Paul O'Neill. It is the official classified record of a crucial meeting of the British government's security cabinet on July 23, 2002 -- including the prime minister, the attorney general, the foreign secretary, the defense secretary and the chief of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service. It details their worried discussion of their American ally's premature and absolute determination to wage a war that the president publicly claimed he hoped to avoid, and of the difficulty they would have in justifying that war.

Stodgy and fearful, the Washington press corps seemed unable to process this revelatory document, concocting various excuses to ignore it or relegate it to the back pages. Until Tuesday, it seemed likely to fade into the archives, despite the best efforts of dissident politicians and bloggers.

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2005/06/10/downing_street_memo/index.html

[ailsagirl]

1. Great piece-- Conason is a good journalist... a REAL journalist

I hope to God he's right. :hide:

Thanks for posting!!

[Cha]

2. Joe Conason really puts this

in perspective..thanks for this.

"For anyone who recalls the blazing indignation of the Washington press corps and the nation's talking heads after Bill Clinton lied about his sad philandering, the passive media response to this president's fatal dishonesty is astonishing.

He brandishes the "smoking memo" in their faces and laughs -- and they laugh with him."

[KoKo]

4. lol's Zidzi we both caught the same quote!

Amazing isn't it and gives me the creeps that sentence. This is how far the press has sunk...they laugh with him. :scared:

[Cha]

9. That "quote" speaks Volumes, Koko!

If I were the mother, relative, or friend of anyone getting shot at or bombed in Iraq I would first cry and then I would get mad..and then I'd want to get even.

[KoKo]

3. "brandishes...smoking memo in their faces laughs and they laugh with him"

Snip from the article: :eyes:

"Past performance on this and other stories displeasing to the White House suggests that their unconvincing and incomplete answers will be allowed to stand, even though the president's popularity and public support for the war have reached new lows.

For anyone who recalls the blazing indignation of the Washington press corps and the nation's talking heads after Bill Clinton lied about his sad philandering, the passive media response to this president's fatal dishonesty is astonishing.

He brandishes the "smoking memo" in their faces and laughs -- and they laugh with him."

[bpilgrim]

5. it's ALL IN YOUR COLLECTIVE HEADS! Don't mean NOTHIN! It will HURT US!!!

crickets :evilgrin:

peace

[Pryderi]

6. History is written by the winners. Bush wins all the time. I don't care

about history, I want Bush strung up by his balls now!

[anitar1]

7. I think I will ask my Dr. for some xanax as

I find myself in a constant state of anger ect. I don't get no satisfaction, as Mick said.

[Pryderi]

8. Same here. It's unbelievable what this S.O.B gets away with...

some days I have violent fantasies

[deacon2]

10. Ditto, kiddo

"I want Bush strung up by his balls now!" Presuming he has any.