Friday, January 30, 2004
Shameful
The Newshour with Jim Lehrer this evening may have done more to promote cynicism of the media than anything in recent memory--and we're talking about in 201k's minds, which is saying something.
The topic was of course David Kay's less than stunning announcement regarding the lack of WMD in Iraq, and the cynicism stems from The Newshour's decision that the two people best fit to discuss it were former CIA directors John Deutch and R. James Woolsey.
The two men promptly took sides in the debate, with Deutch arguing it was a failure of intelligence, and Woolsey arguing that it was, yes, a failure of intelligence. And that was it.
Both men elaborated at great length on this failure of intelligence, and even pretended to disagree over insignificant details of it, while of course claiming there was absolutely no reason for an independent investigation, which was just swell with The Newshour's Margaret Warner, who was perfectly happy to pretend along with them that the whole country wasn't actually trying to decide if it was really a failure of intelligence or the greatest misrepresentation in the history of the republic.
In fact, the only mention of the latter possibility was in the political context of Democrats trying to make hay. Which would be ok, we suppose, if it were not for the plethora of evidence to the contrary which has in the last few days splashed all over the nation's newsstands.
Such as James Fallows' cover article in this month's Atlantic Monthly:
But alas, The Newshour was this evening blissfully cocooned from the concerns and conversations of ordinary Americans, choosing instead to stay safely wrapped in the blatant poppycock they promote as a public service to the government, in exchange, presumably, for invitations to a gaggle of lovely Georgetown cocktail parties, at which they will no doubt check their press credentials at the door in order to hobnob less awkwardly with the courtiers and courtesans and Woolseys and Deutches at the O, so comfy center of the universe.
The topic was of course David Kay's less than stunning announcement regarding the lack of WMD in Iraq, and the cynicism stems from The Newshour's decision that the two people best fit to discuss it were former CIA directors John Deutch and R. James Woolsey.
The two men promptly took sides in the debate, with Deutch arguing it was a failure of intelligence, and Woolsey arguing that it was, yes, a failure of intelligence. And that was it.
Both men elaborated at great length on this failure of intelligence, and even pretended to disagree over insignificant details of it, while of course claiming there was absolutely no reason for an independent investigation, which was just swell with The Newshour's Margaret Warner, who was perfectly happy to pretend along with them that the whole country wasn't actually trying to decide if it was really a failure of intelligence or the greatest misrepresentation in the history of the republic.
In fact, the only mention of the latter possibility was in the political context of Democrats trying to make hay. Which would be ok, we suppose, if it were not for the plethora of evidence to the contrary which has in the last few days splashed all over the nation's newsstands.
Such as James Fallows' cover article in this month's Atlantic Monthly:
Blind Into Baghdad..and this damning timeline from the Center for American Progress, which is so comprehensive that it could nearly serve as articles of impeachment:
The U.S. occupation of Iraq is a debacle not because the government did no planning but because a vast amount of expert planning was willfully ignored by the people in charge. The inside story of a historic failure.
Neglecting Intelligence, Ignoring WarningsAnd let's not forget the admittedly partisan but no less compelling statement by Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark, who went out of his way in last night's debate to pointedly call the whole invasion an outright fraud, claiming he'd even been asked to help promote it, which you'd think was a charge hot enough to garner mention on The Newshour's discussion of the topic.
A chronology of how the Bush Administration repeatedly and deliberately refused to listen to intelligence agencies that said its case for war was weak.
January 28, 2004
Updated January 29, 2004
Former weapons inspector David Kay now says Iraq probably did not have WMD before the war, a major blow to the Bush Administration which used the WMD argument as the rationale for war. Unfortunately, Kay and the Administration are now attempting to shift the blame for misleading America onto the intelligence community. But a review of the facts shows the intelligence community repeatedly warned the Bush Administration about the weakness of its case, but was circumvented, overruled, and ignored.
But alas, The Newshour was this evening blissfully cocooned from the concerns and conversations of ordinary Americans, choosing instead to stay safely wrapped in the blatant poppycock they promote as a public service to the government, in exchange, presumably, for invitations to a gaggle of lovely Georgetown cocktail parties, at which they will no doubt check their press credentials at the door in order to hobnob less awkwardly with the courtiers and courtesans and Woolseys and Deutches at the O, so comfy center of the universe.
