It's really hard to sort through the lies and fabrications from the Bush Administration about Iran in just the past week. An analysis in today's Washington Post takes a crack at it:
Burdened by its troubles in Iraq, the Bush administration is being doubly scrutinized over its policy toward Tehran. For weeks, despite occasional saber rattling, officials from the president on down have insisted there are no plans to attack Iran. Instead, they have said they are fully committed to a peaceful resolution of all outstanding grievances, including Iran's nuclear weapons activities, support for terrorists in Lebanon and support for insurgents in Iraq.Enough already. Note to the media: The Bush Administration is lying to you -- AGAIN.
"We've been very careful in what we've said over the last few weeks," Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, the administration's point man on Iran, said in an appearance yesterday at the Brookings Institution.
Asked about the "highest levels" charge, Burns replied: "The president . . . did not claim that today. We are not claiming that today."
That was precisely what the military asserted in its Baghdad briefing for reporters Sunday, a secretive session in which no cameras or tape recorders were allowed and no names were given for the speakers.
It's time for the reporters in Baghdad to out the speakers at that now infamous Sunday briefing. Reporters in the traditional media know the back story here. They need to share it.
Here in DC, the Scooter Libby trial showed the games that the Bush Administration plays with the media. They've played the media for fools. The same thing is happening this time with Iran. The Bush Administration expects the media to abide by their "rules." But, when the Bush Administration is lying (again), there are no rules. So, the media has an obligation to bust this open. Who were the Baghdad briefers -- and who put them up to that briefing? That would be a good start.
