Bush's order to stop leaks is leaked!

[maha]

This is an actual Philadelphia Inquirer Story.

WASHINGTON - Concerned about the appearance of disarray and feuding within his administration as well as growing resistance to his policies in Iraq, President Bush - living up to his recent declaration that he is in charge - told his top officials to "stop the leaks" to the media, or else.

News of Bush's order leaked almost immediately.

Bush told his senior aides Tuesday that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed administration officials in the media anymore, and that if he did, there would be consequences, said a senior administration official who asked that his name not be used.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/7023679.htm

[hlthe2b]

1. That's funny enough to be an onion parody!

Geez.... if those guys weren't so nasty, it would be easy to discount them totally...

[Devils Advocate NZ]

2. They are just setting up the excuse for the leak of Plame's identity...

An escalating turf war involving Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has generated an unusually bountiful crop of leaks in recent months, and one result is a criminal investigation of anonymous officials in the White House who are alleged to have leaked the name of a CIA covert officer.

In other words, they are blaming the leak on in-fighting between lower level functionaries, rather than the real cause of the Bush admin (and Bush himself) trying to cover up the fact that they lied about the war.

They are suggesting that the reason for the leak was to backstab someone lower down, rather than to protect Bush. That is what this whole article is about, and it seems likely they are about to offer up some assistant and deflect any mud from landing on Bush himself.