White House's Cynical Iraq Ploy: 'Misspeak' First, 'Correct' It Later [Robert Scheer]

L.A. Times ^ | 9/16/03 | Robert Scheer

[TastyManatees]

It's hard to believe that it was just a slip of the tongue rather than a calculated lie when Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz sullied the memory of those who died on 9/11 by exploiting their deaths for propaganda purposes. The brainwashing of Americans, two-thirds of whom believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks, is too effective a political ploy for the Bush regime to suddenly let the truth get in the way.

[TastyManatees]

Sometimes I wonder if I will go to H--l for picking on this guy. It's almost too easy.

Perhaps Mr. Scheer should try correcting his own mischaracterizations and mis-statements before attempting to point at others.

Tasty Manatees

[gridlock]

Robert Scheer applies the process of Dowdification to the Cheney quote from this week's MEET THE PRESS:

Robert Scheer's version of what Cheney said:

Even if the leaders of the Bush team were half as smart as they think they are, it would be amazing that they "misspoke" as often as they have. As happened Sunday when Tim Russert challenged Vice President Dick Cheney to defend his claim, made on "Meet the Press" before the war, that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons.

"Yeah, I did misspeak," Cheney admitted. "We never had any evidence that [Hussein] had acquired a nuclear weapon."

The pattern is clear: Say what you want people to believe for the front page and on TV, then whisper a halfhearted correction or apology that slips under the radar. It is really quite ingenious in its cynical effectiveness, and Wolfowitz's latest performance is a classic example — even his correction needs correcting.

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What Cheney Actually Said, from the MTP Transcript:

Mr. RUSSERT: Eight days after that, you were on MEET THE PRESS, and we...

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: ...talked about that specifically. Let’s watch: (Videotape, March 16, 2003):

MR. RUSSERT: And even though the International Atomic Energy Agency said he does not have a nuclear program, we disagree.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I disagree, yes. And you’ll find the CIA, for example, and other key parts of our intelligence community, disagree. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. ElBaradei, frankly, is wrong. And I think if you look at the track record of the International Atomic Energy Agency and this kind of issue, especially where Iraq is concerned, they have consistently underestimated or missed what it was Saddam Hussein was doing. I don’t have any reason to believe they’re any more valid this time than they’ve been in the past.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Reconstituted nuclear weapons. You misspoke.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Yeah. I did misspeak. I said repeatedly during the show weapons capability. We never had any evidence that he had acquired a nuclear weapon.

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Scheer drops the "I said repeatedly during the show weapons capability". Scheer states directly that Cheney misspoke on MTP on March 16 and then "whisper(ed) a halfhearted correction or apology that slips under the radar." Instead, it is clear that Cheney corrected himself repeatedly at the time, and the videotaped quote pulled by Russert was not did not reflect the conversation. Russert himself corrected the possible misunderstanding, and did not challenge Cheney's amplification of that correction.

Another in a long line of Scheer misrepresentations, of course. But a representative misrepresentation, IMHO.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

I can do the same thing.

"Mr. Scheer, even though you are someone who probably doesn't believe in a God-- this may not leave you damned for eternity. I will try to explain my religious faith to you, without making an ass of myself. Before I found my faith, there was a gaping hole in my life."

Which, after proper redacting, becomes:

"Mr. Scheer, even though you are someone who probably doesn't believe in a God-- this may not leave you damned for eternity. I will try to explain my religious faith to you, without making an ass of myself. before I found my faith, there was a gaping hole in my life