| Page 2 of 5 < > |
Saddam Verdict Surprise?
Snow: "Yes. I mean, the idea is preposterous. This is one of these tinfoil hat sort of things, where people suddenly decide, if there is news that may call into questions the things that they've been saying, that somehow we've been scheming and plotting with the Iraqis."
Adam Nagourney and Jim Rutenberg write in the New York Times: "The White House said the timing of the announcement, two days before Election Day, had nothing to do with American politics and had been dictated by the Iraqi court. But Mr. Bush moved quickly to put it to use in what has been his central strategic imperative over the past week, trying to rouse Republican voters to turn out.
  |
"'Today we witnessed a landmark event in the history of Iraq: Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal,' Mr. Bush said to roars of approval in a hockey auditorium packed with supporters in Grand Island, Neb. 'Saddam Hussein's trial is a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law.'"
Here's Bush's initial statement , in which he could not have wrapped himself in the flag any more tightly: "[W]e give our thanks to the men and women of America's Armed Forces, who have sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom in Iraq -- and they've sacrificed for the security of the United States. Without their courage and skill, today's verdict would not have happened. On behalf of the American people, I thank every American who wears the uniform, I thank their families -- and I thank them for their service and continued sacrifice."
Tom Engelhardt blogs for the Nation: "The Saddam Hussein verdict, scheduled for October 16 and then suddenly delayed last month (supposedly because the Iraqi special tribunal needed more time) to November 5, the last news cycle before the US midterm election, has now come in and the former dictator (and monster) has been found guilty. The Bush administration, struggling desperately for face time in the media these last weeks, has one day of Iraqi front-page headlines and lead TV news stories of its dreams in an election season in which the Iraq War has more or less shoved every other issue off center stage.
"The possibility that this particularly convenient verdict postponement might have been the result of Bush administration planning and pressure to create a November surprise for the midterm elections was first raised here . . . on October 17. Since then the mainstream American media has failed to explore the subject. . . .
"I have little doubt that, weeks, months, or years from now, we'll learn just who carried off this particular administration political ploy--and just how. In the meantime, this is but another small, pathetic tale of how the mainstream media has failed its readers and viewers, blindly and blandly spreading yet another administration fiction about the increasingly fictional land of, and 'government' of, Iraq."
White House Briefing reader Ross Weiner writes in an e-mail: "So, as this White House would have it, it's preposterous to believe that the same administration who is paying to have positive stories placed in Iraqi newspapers, who will do anything for a catchy motto or slogan, and who has avoided reality at all costs by insisting that things are going well and that we are repeatedly 'turning corners,' might actually have orchestrated a bit of good news to come out of Iraq immediately preceding the elections here? And while that might be preposterous, it is quite obvious to the Vice President and others that every roadside bomb that goes off is designed to influence our elections, and has nothing to do with the thousands of years of sectarian strife that has plagued Iraq.
"Quite simply, incredible."
Bushism Watch
Here's Bush in Greeley, Colo. , on Saturday: "No doubt -- let me say to you, if you've got a relative in the military, I wouldn't have your loved one in the theater if I didn't think we'd win. (Applause.) I can't look at the mothers and fathers and husbands and wives of those who wear our uniform who may be in Iraq, and say, it's noble, but not think I can -- we can win the -- the only way we can win is if we leave before the job is -- I mean, the only way we can lose is if we leave before the job is done. That's the only way."
A YouTube clip of the seminal part -- "the only way we can win is if we leave before the job is -- I mean, the only way we can lose is if we leave before the job is done" -- is the second most popular clip on that site at this moment, with 152,000 views, and counting.
Inside the Bubble
Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post about the nature of Bush's "final 10-state blitz to save his congressional majorities -- and essentially the remainder of his presidency. . . .
