U.S. media tardy in reporting Downing Street memos

[Algorem]

Sunday, June 19, 2005

http://www.cleveland.com/readers/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1119173752158260.xml&coll=2

The news snowball that is the Downing Street Memo is gathering heft and speed and is beginning to hurtle down the hill toward the White House.

At this point it is unclear whether it will land with a thunderous blow, smashing the Bush administration to pieces, or break apart and melt. That will depend on what happens when the memo (more accurately "memos" -- there were eight of them at last count) is held up to public scrutiny, and whether President Bush or his political opponents are more successful at interpreting them.

For purposes of this discussion, we will leave the issue of geopolitical ramifications where it more properly belongs -- with the beard-strokers on the editorial page -- and concentrate on the public scrutiny.

The Downing Street Memo, or DSM as it has come to be known, began to seep into the U.S. public's consciousness in late May. (Even though DSM sounds vaguely medical, let us quickly adopt it, giving silent thanks that, at least so far, no one has succeeded in attaching the dreaded "-gate" suffix to the issue.)...

[rodeodance]

1. After Admitting it 'Dropped Ball,' AP Produces Tough Piece on Memos

sombody posted this on DU Saturday and i saw lots of AP articles yesterday--front page of yahoo and excite.com. over the weekend.



http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000964304

After Admitting it 'Dropped Ball,' AP Produces Tough Piece on Memos



By The Associated Press

Published: June 18, 2005 3:00 PM ET

LONDON When Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief foreign policy adviser dined with Condoleezza Rice six months after Sept. 11, the then-U.S. national security adviser didn't want to discuss Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida. She wanted to talk about "regime change" in Iraq, setting the stage for the U.S.-led invasion more than a year later.

President Bush wanted Blair's support, but British officials worried the White House was rushing to war, according to a series of leaked secret Downing Street memos that have renewed questions and debate about Washington's motives for ousting Saddam Hussein.

In one of the memos, British Foreign Office political director Peter Ricketts openly asks whether the Bush administration had a clear and compelling military reason for war.

"U.S. scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and al-Qaida is so far frankly unconvincing," Ricketts says in the memo. "For Iraq, `regime change' does not stack up. It sounds like a grudge between Bush and Saddam."

The documents confirm Blair was genuinely concerned about Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction, but also indicate he was determined to go to war as America's top ally, even though his government thought a pre-emptive attack may be illegal under international law........

[rodeodance]

2. it has mainly been the media-as in TV that is tardy.

[AX10]

3. I've seen some excellent news paper reporting on this....

aside from the Whorington Post, that is.

[dchill]

7. The AP didn't "drop" the ball -

they stole it and hid it - the problem is that someone else found it, and wants to play ...

[ixion]

4. this guy is an apologist nothing more

oh, and he comes down on the 'this isn't news' side of things, despite the fact that it is probably the first real news we've had in the last four years.

[Algorem]

5. here's how he describes himself-"a Bush-voting, Reagan-admiring,

death-penalty-believing, Iraq-war-supporting, gun-control-opposing, Geauga County conservative"(POS,broken-down old sportswriter)Just shows they HAVE to put DSM in their paper,they'd really love to not.

http://www.cleveland.com/readers/index.ssf?/base/opinion/111494004645290.xml&coll=2

[dchill]

6. Actually, they weren't "tardy" - they were absent -

you know, like in Absent Without Leave. Tardy trivializes the media's total lack of response to the story. They thought it would just go away, like all the other things they've ignored since 2000 - but the tactic just isn't going to work anymore.