White House downplays Britain's Iraq war memo

[sabra]

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060327-124452-8052r

White House downplays Britain's Iraq war memo

WASHINGTON -- The White House said Monday invading Iraq was "the last option" and was not the preferred course of action.

The statement, in response to a question in a news briefing, followed a New York Times story quoting a memo from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy adviser that said at a private meeting between Blair and President Bush, the U.S. leader indicated he intended to invade Iraq even if United Nations inspectors found no weapons of mass destruction.

...


Spokesman Scott McClellan said he would not comment on private political conversations. However, "the use of force was a last option, but we recognized it might be necessary and we planned accordingly."

McClellan noted previous U.N. resolutions had warned Saddam Hussein of serious consequences if he did not comply with U.N. mandates over weapons of mass destruction and its compliance with the inspection regime.

Saddam had been given numerous opportunities to do so but chose not to, McClellan stressed.

[MadMaddie]

1. They can downplay this memo all they want.........

But if the NY Times is reporting it.....

Uh...Oh.....pop goes the weasel!!

[IndianaGreen]

2. McClellan puts Ron Ziegler to shame, doesn't he?

This wasn't a "private conversation" between Bush and Blair but a conspiracy to launch an unprovoked war on Iraq no matter what the UN inspectors did or found. This is evidence of an impeachable offernse.

[Pithy Cherub]

7. bush Propaganda Czar is inoperative on the truth.

Snotty is a bigger version of that Domenech disaster. ;)

[UpInArms]

21. Snotty Scotty will have to wrestle Comical Ali for that Oscar

It's hard to tell which one will win the propaganda and spin award.

[LynnTheDem]

3. LAST OPTION??? So KICKING THE INSPECTORS OUT,

BEFORE they were done, was what, the SECOND-LAST OPTION???

Ya gotta be real fucking STUPID to fall for that ridiculous "last option" bullshit, when BUSH KICKED OUT THE WEAPONS INSPECTORS BEFORE THEY WERE DONE.

I know RIGHTWINGNUTS are the stupidest MFers ever...but we're NOT ALL rightwingnuts, bush! Over half the country DOES have a brain, bush!

[rodeodance]

10. and that lie is repeatedly repeated--(saying SH kicked out the inspectors)

[rodeodance]

11. nominated.

[sabra]

12. it's interesting, that they don't even deny the content of the memo

anymore...

[spanone]

17. Condi slipped that lie into her Timmy-fest yesterday.

[Just Me]

4. "last option" my ass,....these CONS are so egregious in their lying,.

,...it makes the mind boggle.

THEY. NEVER. STOP. LYING!!!! :freak:

[Supersedeas]

31. how does Scott look in the mirror every morning, noon, or otherwise

[Marymarg]

5. Rewriting history

Force was not the "last" option. It was apparent early on that Bush was determined to attack. It was the first and only action Bush considered.

[donkeyotay]

24. Exactly. "It was the first and only action Bush considered"

In fall of 2002 the DoE debunked the aluminum tubes, centrifuges. The UAV story was debunked. The mobile bioweapon labs turned out to be for weather balloons. There was some cock-eyed story about some scientist digging up crap in his yard. And of course the yellowcake crap. Then there were the UN inspectors complaining about being sent on wild goose chases around Iraq, and for their trouble they were declared "irrelevant" and kicked out by America's emperor.

Don't forget we had to invade before the weather got hot, if we got it over with quick (couple months, a few million dollars) the price of gas would go down, and beside - in the end, even though they knew all their excuses were bogus - it was TOO LATE TO STOP IT. I heard it on the tee vee.

Bush worked hard to achieve this war, the reason he was placed in office. Impeach him and hold his co-conspirators accountable.

[wordpix2]

6. snotty's lying again to coverup for his lying employer BushCo

[KansDem]

8. How can the Bushistas continue this charade when the facts say otherwise?

More and more facts coming to light, yet BushCo still spews "the spin."

Spokesman Scott McClellan said he would not comment on private political conversations. Since when is a conversation between two world leaders regarding an impending invasion into a sovereign nation considered a "private political conversation?" What about all the "private political conversations" Bush has illegally wiretapped?

[rodeodance]

9. What Bush and Blair Told the Press After Key 2003 Meeting on Iraq

Posted earlier on DU

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002236591

Mon Mar-27-06 10:08 AM
Original message
What Bush and Blair Told the Press After Key 2003 Meeting on Iraq

By Greg Mitchell

Published: March 27, 2006 10:55 AM ET

NEW YORK A front-page New York Times article this morning about a meeting between President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Jan 31, 2003, is receiving substantial international attention. It gets even more interesting when contrasted with what the two men told the press when they emerged from the closed-door session.
.........................

The memo, written by Blair's top foreign policy adviser David Manning, declares that the two leader believed that "diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning.” Among other things, the two leaders predicted a quick war and “manageable” aftermath. Bush predicted that it was "unlikely there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups," and Blair agreed.

“The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq,” The Times relates. “Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein.”

.........................

So: What did the two leaders say when they completed their meeting and went out to meet the press that day?

What follows are excerpts from the transcript of their brief press conference:
What Bush and Blair Told the Press After Key 2003 Meeting on Iraq

By Greg Mitchell

Published: March 27, 2006 10:55 AM ET
NEW YORK A front-page New York Times article this morning about a meeting between President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Jan 31, 2003, is receiving substantial international attention. It gets even more interesting when contrasted with what the two men told the press when they emerged from the closed-door session.

[NanceGreggs]

13. McClellan said he would not comment on private political ...

... conversations?

Why does this guy even bother showing up for work? The list of things he won't comment on is getting pretty long ...

[madmark]

20. is sm representing that bush and blair were discussing reelection

strategies? What does he mean by "private political conversations". Ive never heard the term of art before?

[DBoon]

14. technically, "last option" is correct

If you consider only one option, it becomes both the first and the last option.

[aden_nak]

15. In a Democracy, there can be no "Private Political Conversations".

[shtinkycat]

16. Rate the story up on Yahoo

It hasn't made it to the Yahoo front page yet:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usbritainbushiraqdiplomacy

[steve2470]

25. done nt

[yorkiemommie1]

30. done

n/t

[MrPrax]

18. LOL...

McClellan noted previous U.N. resolutions had warned Saddam Hussein of serious consequences if he did not comply with U.N. mandates over weapons of mass destruction and its compliance with the inspection regime.

That one won't work, Scottie--there were no violations, obviously...be nice if at some point the Press Gallery might point this out.

[oasis]

19. Drip, drip drip. (eom)

[daleo]

22. It was their last option, first option, and only option.

They are playing with semantics again.

On edit - I see DBoon picked up this little ploy too.

[Texaroo]

23. Whaaaa???

It was our last option , but it was the only one we planned for, because we didn't plan properly for the diplomatic options, as evidenced by their FAILURE, so we had to have at least ONE plan for SOMETHING.

And yet he offered "no comment"? Then what was the statement he MADE? Sounded like a comment to me.
I can't believe the imbeciles on the right shrug BS like this off, every single day. What is the point of having a press secretary?

[ixion]

26. the last option for what? spreading democracy?

I thought it was about WMD's? OH, that's right: THERE WERE NO WMDs. :grr:

[Baconfoot]

27. "Downplay" now means flatly contradict? *makes note* NT

[MGKrebs]

28. A hero named Helen.

Helen, go ahead.

Q In a follow up for -- from this morning's briefing, I said that the President was aware in the run-up to the war that there were no weapons -- no weapons -- unconventional weapons had been found, and you sort of denied that it was in the memo.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, this morning you said that the President was aware there were no weapons of mass destruction. And that is not what that article spelled out.

Q This is what it -- the memo says: The President and Prime Minister acknowledge that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq in the run-up to the war.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, let me remind you and take you back to that time period, because there was a U.N. weapons inspection team that was looking at these issues. And that team put out I think some sort of interim report back in December of '02, and that report showed that the regime was not coming clean. And we said at that time that the regime was continuing its pattern of non-cooperation and that if they continued --

Q They also said they didn't find any weapons.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- if they continued down that path, then we were prepared to use force. The President pursued a diplomatic solution. That's why we went to the United Nations. That's why we passed a 17th resolution that called on the regime to disclose or face serious consequences.

Q The memo says he wanted a war, basically that he was determined, and there were no weapons found.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, Helen, that's not an accurate assessment, and you know it. Because you covered --

Q Is this memo wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you covered us at that time period. And let me remind you, go back to that time period, look at the public comments that were made, look at the numerous statements that were made by the President of the United States. We were continuing to pursue a diplomatic solution, but we recognized that it was necessary to prepare and plan accordingly in the event we would need to use force, and that's what we were doing at that time, as well.

But Saddam Hussein was given every opportunity to comply, and he continued to defy the international community -- even when he was given one final opportunity, or face serious consequences. So let's not rewrite history. It was very clear what was going on at the time.

Q Is this memo correct?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't -- I haven't seen that memo, Helen.

Q You haven't seen The New York Times' memo?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've seen The New York Times.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060327-2.html

[Amonester]

29. every opportunity to comply??

"EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLY??

to what?? He didn't have WMD's so if having to comply with what?

Is this that "telling-bigger-lies-to-cover-up-for-other-lies" Repuke(TM) blame game snotty's playin' again??

We thought so...

[DainBramaged]

32. So he basically acknowledged the memo is true

Plausible deniability doesn't cut it here.

[sabra]

33. yep, they have moved on from denying it...

which is a bombshell on it's own.

[DainBramaged]

34. Bush things he is impervious to criticism

He has gone batshit crazy. This guy has control of the football?

Be very afraid people, very afraid.