Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Honey, I blew up the evidence!
Tony Blair has been put through the wringer, and now the BBC has decided to take on the White House on the falsification of evidence used to justify war against Iraq. According to the report, the CIA warned the US Government that claims about Iraq's nuclear ambitions were not true months before President Bush used them to make his case for war. The BBC report and the White House's belated acceptance of some exaggeration (on the Niger uranium) have come in the wake of the almost surreal op-ed in the New York Times by Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was sent to Niger verify whether or not Iraq had tried to source uranium from there.
Here's how the Wilson op-ed starts off -- Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
Whether any of this will make any dent in President Bush's unassailable popularity remains to be seen. At times I wonder why a president lying about his private sex life held far more interest for both the American public and the media than a President who seemingly lied (or someone at the White House led him on) about the reasons to commit American soldiers to risk their lives in a foreign land, fighting a increasingly unpopular war.
Here's how the Wilson op-ed starts off -- Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
Whether any of this will make any dent in President Bush's unassailable popularity remains to be seen. At times I wonder why a president lying about his private sex life held far more interest for both the American public and the media than a President who seemingly lied (or someone at the White House led him on) about the reasons to commit American soldiers to risk their lives in a foreign land, fighting a increasingly unpopular war.
