White House Preparing Strategy To ‘Water Down’ Pessimistic Reports From Iraq

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/30/white-house-water-down

White House Preparing Strategy To ‘Water Down’ Pessimistic Reports From Iraq

The Washington Post reports that a draft version of the Government Accountability Office’s upcoming report on Iraq will deliver a “strikingly negative” assessment of the situation in Iraq. The report contradicts the administration’s claim that sectarian violence is decreasing, stating that “the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged.”

The leaked draft version of the report was sent to the Post by an individual who was concerned the White House may try to “water down” its conclusions. The concern comes on the heels of a report that Gen. David Petraeus “softened” the judgments of the recent National Intelligence Assessment on Iraq and comments by Rep. Tom Davis that the White House would probably “tweak” the “Petraeus report.” The Post explains:

The person who provided the draft report to The Post said it was being conveyed from a government official who feared that its pessimistic conclusions would be watered down in the final version — as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month’s National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

The AP adds further details to the story. According to unnamed officials familiar with the White House’s strategy regarding the GAO report, “the administration is preparing a case to play down the findings, arguing that Congress ordered the GAO to use unfair, ‘all or nothing’ standards when compiling the document.”

An internal White House memorandum obtained by the AP explains the White House’s strategy:

The (White House) memo argues that the GAO will not present a “true picture” of the situation in Iraq because the standards were “designed to lock in failure,” according to portions of the document read to the AP by an official who has seen it.

The benchmarks measured by the GAO were established by Congress in the war supplemental funding bill that passed in May and agreed to by President Bush. In fact, Bush heralded the passage of the benchmarks, saying they laid out a “clear roadmap” that the Iraqi government must meet:

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[Jim__]

1. Will the press report the bush is trying to change the rules in the middle of the game?

Or, will they simply parrot what the bush admin says?

Based on history...

[tridim]

2. Wouldn't the correct term be "fix" instead of "water down"?

Like they did with the "evidence" of WMD in Iraq?

[rocktivity]

3. More to the point, would that be impeachable?

:think:
rocknation