Too little, too late...Pincus and Milbanks in WP tell of Bush's lies March 18 2003.

[madfloridian]

The shock and awe invasion was on March 20, 2003. So really, the article was nothing more than a slight pretense on the part of the WP. They could have done more than that to stop it all.

For the rest of my life I will know that we did not have to go there. I remember on March 20, 2003, calling congressional offices, calling the 04 candidates offices....saying look what we have done. The bombing was horrible and sad. It was done to show how big and tough we were.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A42517-2003Mar17¬Found=true

As the Bush administration prepares to attack Iraq this week, it is doing so on the basis of a number of allegations against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that have been challenged -- and in some cases disproved -- by the United Nations, European governments and even U.S. intelligence reports.

For months, President Bush and his top lieutenants have produced a long list of Iraqi offenses, culminating Sunday with Vice President Cheney's assertion that Iraq has "reconstituted nuclear weapons." Previously, administration officials have tied Hussein to al Qaeda, to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and to an aggressive production of biological and chemical weapons. Bush reiterated many of these charges in his address to the nation last night.

...."In another embarrassing episode for the administration, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell cited evidence about Iraq's weapons efforts that originally appeared in a British intelligence document. But it later emerged that the British report's evidence was based in part on academic papers and trade publications."

..." In his first major speech solely on the Iraqi threat, last October, Bush said, "Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles -- far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and other nations -- in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and service members live and work."

Inspectors have found that the Al Samoud-2 missiles can travel less than 200 miles -- not far enough to hit the targets Bush named. Iraq has not accounted for 14 medium-range Scud missiles from the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but the administration has not presented any evidence that they still exist.

Here are the Faces of the Fallen in Iraq

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/iraq/

And here are the Faces of the Fallen in Afghanistan
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/afghanistan/

[Trajan]

1. These were the most honest pieces of mainstream journalism ...

in that run up period ....

Pincus fearlessly revealed the truth of the litany of lies promoted by the neocons, as did Seymour Hersh and very few others ..... Dana Priest, and occasionally, Milbanks, also committed some truth-telling in those weeks ....

Im not sure what you expect, but I was thankful that THESE writers had it RIGHT, and TOLD us HONESTLY what was happening .... Pincus was channeling the angst of the careerist CIA/DIA who knew that the neocons were lying, and didnt appreciate that their TRUE appraisals were being ignored .....

While I appreciate your anger, I think it might be somewhat misdirected, or perfectionist ....

[Kagemusha]

2. Yes, blame the ones stuffing Pincus reports deep inside the paper.

Pincus did his part.

[madfloridian]

3. I was clear....it was true, but it was too little too late.

The vote was taken in October of 2002, while Democrats still partially controlled congress.

You are calling me a perfectionist. I can live with that. It is not true, but I have been called far worse.

It doesn't matter anyway, does it? We went, we bombed them, we killed the civilians. We did things our country has never done before.

So they told us right before the invasion.

The truthtelling did not matter then.

[TacticalPeek]

5. October 22, 2002

For Bush, Facts Are Malleable
Presidential Tradition Of Embroidering Key Assertions Continues

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 22, 2002; Page A01

President Bush, speaking to the nation this month about the need to challenge Saddam Hussein, warned that Iraq has a growing fleet of unmanned aircraft that could be used "for missions targeting the United States."

Last month, asked if there were new and conclusive evidence of Hussein's nuclear weapons capabilities, Bush cited a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency saying the Iraqis were "six months away from developing a weapon." And last week, the president said objections by a labor union to having customs officials wear radiation detectors has the potential to delay the policy "for a long period of time."

All three assertions were powerful arguments for the actions Bush sought. And all three statements were dubious, if not wrong. Further information revealed that the aircraft lack the range to reach the United States; there was no such report by the IAEA; and the customs dispute over the detectors was resolved long ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61903-2002Oct21?language=printer


Credit where due, since as Paul Krugman notes, Milbank and others risked their careers doing this.
http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/archives/001057.html
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0528-03.htm

:kick:

[madfloridian]

4. It was a tremendous article. It was two days before shock and awe.

Pincus did good work, but that article is one example of when it is too late.

So now, let's condemn me for saying it was too late to matter. I don't mind.