--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> But of course this statement was carefully crafted.
> The CIA could not confirm the allegation so the
> speech writers found language that the CIA could
> "live with". So this was not simply a statement of
> fact. The speech writer came up with a phrase that
> would shield the administration from accusations of
> lying.
Which is why they weren't lying, and we all know it.
The statement the British tell us is (in some ways)
weaker than the statement "we know". Of course, given
the relative records of British and American
intelligence, it's stronger in some ways too, but
that's neither here nor there. The point of saying
the British told us this is to convert a factually
untrue statement "We know this" to a true one "We
believe this because someone else we trust claims to
know it." And, incidentally, as I point out for what
feels like the hundredth time and you have gracefully
ignored, the British _still believe it_. They also
have (much) better intelligence in Africa than we do.
It really is astonishing. Are we seeing criticisms of
financial mismanagement? No. The rebuilding process?
Not in any meaningful sense. It's just accusations
of lying about 16 words that are factually true. The
desperate hunger to discredit a just, wise, and
victorious war is kind of surreal. I would note, to
pick one example, that even if the Administration were
lying (it is not) its record of truthfulness compares
quite favorably to FDR's in 1940. Or Wilson's ("He
Kept Us Out of War!") in 1917, for that matter.
Is the Democratic Party _trying_ to give Bush all 50
states in 2004? That would explain this fairly well,
I guess. It's actually bad for the country at this
point. It's not as if the Administration was flawless
- a functioning opposition would be good for everyone.
_This_ is what the world's oldest political party has
come to. I guess, in a sense, this is what comes of
selling your soul. When the immediate rewards are
gone, there's nothing left but a husk. Given the
collapse of the Lieberman campaign, there may not be a
serious Democratic candidate for the Presidency for a
_while_ the way things are going.
=====
Gautam Mukunda
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Freedom is not free"
http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com
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