Monday, November 14, 2005
Coming off the ropes again
The White House, for once, gets in a counterpunch in time to influence the debate:
Today's press release: "Setting the record straight: The Washington Post on Pre-War Intelligence attempts to rebut the gathering meme that the intelligence information that went to the President was materially different than that available to Congress.
The release argues that:
*The President actually toned down the alarmist language of the President's Daily Brief for public and congressional consumption: Quite the opposite of hyping it.
*The Robb-Silberman Commission Reported That The Intelligence In The PDB Was Not "Markedly Different" Than The Intelligence Given To Congress In The NIE.
* The Bipartisan Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Report "Did Not Find Any Evidence" Of Attempts To Influence Analysts To Change Intelligence.
* The British Butler Report finds no evidence of Intelligence Distortion.
This information is now immediately available to any other reporter who tries to report on the topic. And any White House spokesperson now has a prewritten release to refer to any reporter researching a story on charges of intel manipulation. No reporter can now credibly claim not to have seen this information, unless he or she wants to admit that he or she never bothered to seek comment from the White House on a story directly involving the White House.
It's good to see the White House sprouting a pair.
Splash, out
Jason
Today's press release: "Setting the record straight: The Washington Post on Pre-War Intelligence attempts to rebut the gathering meme that the intelligence information that went to the President was materially different than that available to Congress.
The release argues that:
*The President actually toned down the alarmist language of the President's Daily Brief for public and congressional consumption: Quite the opposite of hyping it.
*The Robb-Silberman Commission Reported That The Intelligence In The PDB Was Not "Markedly Different" Than The Intelligence Given To Congress In The NIE.
* The Bipartisan Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Report "Did Not Find Any Evidence" Of Attempts To Influence Analysts To Change Intelligence.
* The British Butler Report finds no evidence of Intelligence Distortion.
This information is now immediately available to any other reporter who tries to report on the topic. And any White House spokesperson now has a prewritten release to refer to any reporter researching a story on charges of intel manipulation. No reporter can now credibly claim not to have seen this information, unless he or she wants to admit that he or she never bothered to seek comment from the White House on a story directly involving the White House.
It's good to see the White House sprouting a pair.
Splash, out
Jason
Comments:
Post a Comment
