Bush's Imaginary Foes

"He typically then says he 'strongly disagrees,' conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.

"Mr. Bush routinely is criticized for dressing up events with a too-rosy glow. But experts in political speech say the straw man device, in which the president makes himself appear entirely reasonable by contrast to supposed 'critics,' is just as problematic."

And here are some wonderful, unfiltered examples of Bush's use of " some people say ," " some say " and " some people in Washington ."

Today's Coverage

It was during yesterday's press conference, of course, that Bush made the surprising announcement that his administration would release an edited version of the National Intelligence Estimate in question.

Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus write in The Washington Post: "In announcing yesterday that he would release the key judgments of a controversial National Intelligence Estimate, President Bush said he agreed with the document's conclusion 'that because of our successes against the leadership of al-Qaeda, the enemy is becoming more diffuse and independent.'

"But the estimate itself posits no such cause and effect. Instead, while it notes that counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged and disrupted al-Qaeda's leadership, it describes the spreading 'global jihadist movement' as fueled largely by forces that al-Qaeda exploits but is not actively directing. They include Iraq, corrupt and unjust governments in Muslim-majority countries, and 'pervasive anti-U.S. sentiment among most Muslims.'"

Greg Miller writes in the Los Angeles Times: "The section released by the White House does not include an explicit conclusion that the war in Iraq has increased the terrorist threat to Americans. But the thrust of the report's 'key judgments' is that the terrorist danger is morphing and growing and that the Iraq war is a major contributing force in that trend."

And like Sanger, Miller at least gave his readers some indication that some of Bush's statements yesterday were questionable.

"'To suggest that if we weren't in Iraq we would see a rosier scenario with fewer extremists joining the radical movement requires us to ignore 20 years of experience,' Bush said. 'The best way to protect America is defeat these killers overseas so we do not have to face them here at home.'

"But the implication that there was a connection between Baghdad and any of those attacks -- or the Al Qaeda terrorist network -- was not supported by intelligence estimates before the war, and has been widely discredited since.

"At one point, Bush defended the invasion by saying the war on terrorism requires 'going on the offense against people that want to do harm to the American people.'

"However, the most comprehensive intelligence estimate on Iraq before the war -- a National Intelligence Estimate published in October 2002 -- concluded that Baghdad was 'drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks' against the United States, and that only 'if sufficiently desperate' was Hussein likely to seek a partnership with a terrorist organization such as Al Qaeda."

So Why Release It?

Richard Sisk writes in the New York Daily News: "President Bush criticized his own intelligence agencies yesterday as 'naive' for saying the Iraq war was spreading terror worldwide and rallying new recruits for Al Qaeda. . . .

"Bush ordered excerpts of the highly classified National Intelligence Estimate to be made public yesterday because he implied they would support his argument.

"But excerpts of the estimate, compiled by 16 spy agencies including the CIA, appeared to contradict Bush."

Timothy Noah asks, in Slate: "Can Bush Read?": "Bush was clearly wrong to suggest that the Times mischaracterized the NIE. The document he released says what the New York Times reported."

Mark Silva writes in the Chicago Tribune: "The White House complained that news reports focused on one paragraph taken 'wildly out of context' from the nine-page key judgments in the NIE. Still, much of the four-page summary released Tuesday focuses on the role Iraq has played in fomenting terrorism."

But Katherine Shrader and Jennifer Loven write for the Associated Press: "For Republicans, the excerpts of the document -- declassified under orders from President Bush on Tuesday -- are more evidence that Iraq is central to the war on terrorism and can't be abandoned without giving jihadists a crucial victory."

Not Just Bush

And it's worth pointing out that refusing to directly address legitimate criticism isn't just a presidential tic; it's administration policy.

Here's the transcript of a briefing by homeland security adviser France Fragos Townsend yesterday.

Q: "Every time Iraq comes up in this, you've responded, the President has responded, it's the central front, and therefore, it is integral to terrorism. But another way to read these key judgments is that the order in which we took these things made a difference and that one might conclude from this, though it does not explicitly state it in any way here, that had we not done Iraq first, had we stayed for a while to do Afghanistan or focused on Iran first or something else, that you might not have created what they refer to here as the Iraqi jihad movement that has attracted so much motion.

"That, the President doesn't go to, not the question of whether Iraq is or is not, but whether it was -- whether it has, itself, because of it's timing, turned the tide somewhat against us. Can you address that?

"MS. TOWNSEND: Sure. David, first, let me start with the notion of the central front in the war on terror. What's -- forget what the -- put aside for the moment what the President has said, because he's been clear about the administration's view. Let's look at what bin Laden and Zawahiri have said -- and Zarqawi -- about this being either where they're going to have ultimate victory or ultimate defeat when the President went through those -- the quotations from al Qaeda, themselves.

"Q But [they] made that statement only after we had invaded. In other words, had we chosen to delay invasion dealing with Iraq for X number of years, would -- is it your conclusion from this that we would have avoided having to deal with an Iraqi jihad at the moment that we are dealing with all of the other elements of this problem?

"MS. TOWNSEND: Two points. First I would say to you, it presumes that when you say, the order of things, that we can't do more than one thing at a time. And as we know, we're fighting in Afghanistan while we're fighting in Iraq. Second, what I would say to you is, there's always an excuse. I mean, we weren't in Iraq on September the 11th when we got hit, and they hit us anyway. There are always going to be some excuse for them to propagate their hateful ideology -- whether it's the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it's the conflict in Afghanistan, it's our troop presence in the Gulf -- there's always an excuse. And so I think that that's not -- I just don't think that holds weight."

Poll Watch, Part I

Incidentally, the public long ago made up its mind that the war in Iraq had made the U.S. less safe, rather than safer.

See Pollingreport.com . In the USAToday/Gallup poll, 48 percent said the U.S. was less safe, in the CNN poll, it was 55 percent. In the Newsweek poll, it was 63 percent.

Poll Watch, Part II

Lydia Saad writes for the Gallup News Service: "According to a recent Gallup Panel survey, the American public puts the primary blame on Bush rather than Clinton for the fact that bin Laden has not been captured. A majority of Americans say Bush is more to blame (53%), compared with 36% blaming Clinton."

Detainee Watch

R. Jeffrey Smith and Charles Babington write in The Washington Post: "White House national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley met with Republican senators yesterday in an effort to reach final agreement on legislation that would govern the military trials of terrorism suspects, but they did not resolve a dispute over whether the captives should have access to U.S. courts.

"The complex measure, which President Bush has called a top legislative priority, nonetheless appears likely to win approval by the time Congress adjourns at the end of this week. A vote is expected in the House today on a version of the legislation that the White House supports."

Smith and Babington note several recent changes to the bill. "In one, the administration and its House allies would give the defense secretary wide latitude to depart, without independent judicial scrutiny, from the rules and detainee protections the legislation would create. It would allow him to do so whenever he deems it 'practicable or consistent with military or intelligence activities.'"

Warrantless Eavesdropping Watch

Jonathan Weisman and Carol D. Leonnig write in The Washington Post: "A high-profile Republican effort to clarify the legality of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program will almost certainly not pass before Congress recesses at week's end for the fall campaign, leaving the legislation in deep trouble, congressional leaders conceded yesterday.

"Efforts to reach agreement on a single version of the bill that could be brought before the Senate and House this week foundered yesterday on the insistence of key House members that they vote on a House version that they say is significantly tougher than the Senate's."

Pre-9/11 Thinking

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "The election-year debate over terrorism has triggered a full-blown spat between the camps of President Bush and former president Bill Clinton as the two sides trade barbs over who was more responsible for failing to disrupt al-Qaeda before it could attack the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Bush complained yesterday that Clinton was engaging in 'finger-pointing' by attacking the current administration's actions before the hijackings. 'I don't have enough time to finger-point,' Bush said. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did, calling Clinton's version of events 'flatly false.' . . .

"Rice came under fire for her assertion that 'we were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaeda' by Clinton's team. In fact, Clarke sent Rice an al-Qaeda memo on Jan. 25, 2001, along with a strategy to 'roll back' the terrorist network, but the Bush team decided to conduct the policy review."

All About the Body Language

Glenn Kessler and Michael Abramowitz write in The Washington Post: "President Bush met yesterday with Afghanistan President Harmid Karzai and last Friday with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Tonight, joined by Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he will bring both men into the old family dining room of the White House for a private chat. 'It will be interesting for me to watch the body language of these two leaders to determine how tense things are,' Bush told reporters."

Valerie Plame Watch

Carol D. Leonnig writes in The Washington Post: "Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who investigated whether senior Bush administration officials illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative for political payback, has spent $1.4 million in his probe over the past three years, his office reported yesterday -- a figure that establishes him as remarkably frugal in the ranks of recent special investigators.

"Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr's investigations of President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica S. Lewinsky and his ties to the failed Whitewater land investment cost $71.5 million and took eight years. Independent Counsel David M. Barrett's examination of Clinton housing secretary Henry G. Cisneros over an extramarital affair and potential illegal payments cost $21 million and lasted 10 years."

Cartoon Watch:

Tom Toles on the Bush workout; Stuart Carlson on growing terrorists; Tony Auth on the rebellious Senate; David Horsey on the hazards of democracy; Mike Luckovich on the blame game.

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