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Snow: My Kingdom For A Transcript!
Sometimes bamboozlement can boomerang.
The slow burn from the administration’s big briefing in Baghdad on Iranian weaponry in Iraq just won’t stop. Briefers refused to allow journalists to record the presentation, a measure explained as necessary in order to protect intelligence sources and methods. Unfortunately for the White House, for the entire week, senior officials have been all over the place in describing what exactly the administration is alleging about Iran, and now intelligence officials have claimed that Sunday's briefers mischaracterized the underlying intelligence.
Caught in the crossfire is poor Tony Snow, who, without a transcript of the briefing, has been unable to get the White House -- and the press corps -- back onto a single page of sheet music:
Q Have you been able to reconstruct the transcript of the briefing in Baghdad on Sunday?MR. SNOW: No, but I think the general purpose of the briefing in Baghdad was to outline Iranian activities in terms of supplying weaponry, or weaponry that had made its way from Iran into Iraq that had been used to kill coalition forces, among others.
One of the most prominent parts of the briefing were the EFPs, the explosively formed projectiles, which are a new form of IED. And so that's basically what was laid out at the briefing. I have not been able -- we're still working on trying to come up with some sort of rendering so that we can find out precisely what the briefer said.
Q Why wouldn't you offer a transcript?
MR. SNOW: Because it wasn't transcribed at the time. People are looking for a tape to see if they can rebuild it just for you guys.
Most likely, Snow is just blowing smoke. But if a transcript of the briefing mysteriously surfaces, it'll probably be yet another embarassment for the administration -- why weren't reporters allowed to tape or video the presentation in the first place? And why all the administration disharmony if there was a recording all along of what was in fact said in Baghdad?
Comments (7)
TheraP wrote on February 16, 2007 12:50 PM:Too bad the Iraqis weren't there. Surely they would have had cell phone pictures and recordings!
What is wrong with this picture?
Aunt Deb wrote on February 16, 2007 12:50 PM:Why don't reporters go find that one reporter/article that named one of the 'officials' who actually gave the presentation and see if that person/agency got the full story? Also, where is there a list of all the reporters who attended this presentation? Just so we can know who's playing mum?
ego peto verum wrote on February 16, 2007 1:11 PM:The White House is not credible on the issue of Iranian involvement in Iraq.
Firstly, for far too long Bush, Cheney and Rice have been virulently attacking Iran with innuendos-- thus appearing biased and unable to assess the facts in an impartial basis.
Secondly, the war in Iraq has deteriorated into chaos of tragic proportions for the Iraqi people-- thus the administration appears to want to find a scapegoat upon whom they can blame for their own disastrous decisions.
Finally, the drum-beating of war against Iran by this administration sounds eerily similar to the rhetoric used in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, which we now know was based upon fabrications and falsehoods-- thus rendering doubtful the credibility and judgment of Bush, Cheney and Rice.
Snow may seek to "normalize" the script which they will play to the American people-- but, we have a duty, based upon past experience, to question the motives, the veracity, and the soundness of what we are told by this White House.
roooth wrote on February 16, 2007 1:27 PM:You know, I'd love to see a White House briefing where nobody showed up except Fox and the Washington Times. (And Jeff Gannon, just for old times sake, then he could go back to blowing whoever he was blowing at the West Wing.)
All the other reporters could get on tv and report that they decided it wasn't worth their time, giving the never-ending and flagrant untruths emanating from the podium, and they will henceforth be concentrating on actually investigating the issues they have previously been wasting their time trying to get answers on.
Because, what's the point? It's not as if these briefings are actually informative. We could watch old tapes of Baghdad Bob and get the same amount of factual information as any Tony Snow performance.
dataman000 wrote on February 16, 2007 2:43 PM:I'm glad TPM Document File has the images of the weapons shown at that Baghdad dog and pony show, because I'd guess they will be deep sixed. None of the mortar shells or RPGs bearing dates from 2005 or 2006 could possibly be from Iran. Oir calendar is up to 2007 now because we count from Christ's birth as year 1. Obviously, an arms factory in Iran would not use a Christian date, but an Islamic one. They count from the Hegiira, when Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina. Their year 1 occurred in our 622, and they're now only up in the 1400's.
jenniferholland wrote on February 16, 2007 3:53 PM:Huh. I never knew that about Islamic & Persian calendars. According to wikipedia Iran and Afghanistan share a calendar, which is different from the other Islamic calendar(s). Here's a site that has the Iranian calendar, and sure enough, the current year is 1385: http://www.alavi.us/jcal/
George E. Lowe wrote on February 16, 2007 4:45 PM:Hi, Yes indeed. The run-up to Bush's PREVENTIVE Iraq War of Choice--19 March 2003, is eeirly similiar to the impending PREVENTIVE War with Iran. It is very important to note that neither the Iraq War nor the impending Iran War can be considered a PREEMPTIVE WAR, triggered by Bush's Doctrine of PREEMPTION[2002}. WHY? Because Bush was trying to PREVENT Iraq from developing a NUCLEAR WEAPON in the future. Likewise the Bush-Cheney Cabal is trying to PREVENT Iran from developing a NUCLEAR WEAPON--AFTER Bush leaves office in 2009.
The bogus WMDs of the Cheney Wolfowitz-Feith Cabal, & all that Niger Yellow Cake fanatasy & Bush's "16 words"[LIE] in his 2003 SOU message were planned/planted to create an imminent National Security threat/danger & thus justify a Bush PREEMPTIVE WAR--To destroy Saddam's WMDs BEFORE he could launch them against us/our Allies.
THAT GREAT BUSH BAMBOOZLEMENT worked like a charm in 2002-2003. We have now seen by last Sunday's Secret Intelligence Baghdad Briefing, the latest BUSH BAMBOOZLEMENT. The INTEL briefers were trying to create an immediate CAUSA BELLI for a PREEMPTIVE WAR by blaming the highest Iranian leaders for killing 170 American Army/Marine Troopers with Iranian-supplied armor-piercing weapons. After all the US went to three wars in 1848/1898/1964 for less TOTAL casualties than those Secret Baghdad Briefers accused the Iranian Leadership of causing last Sunday.
The Congress must NOT let the Bush-Cheney Kabal secretly launch EITHER a Preventive or Preemptive War against Iran--without new Congressional Authority.
If Bush tries to, he ought to be immediately impeached. Meanwhile, will General Pace or SECDEF Gates please take the "Armageddon Football" & those Nuclear War Codes away from Bush--so that he doesn't trigger Armageddon-WW III on the advice of HIS GOD, HIS GUT or Barney ? Very worried in Stuart, FL. George E. Lowe