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Bush Puzzled by Doubters
Paul Reynolds of the BBC asks another key question about the administration's assertions: "So, why now?"
He considers some possibilities: "For a start, the fear among some is that the US is softening up world opinion for an attack on Iran. Such an attack would be aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities. . . .
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"Then there is the old tactic of blaming someone else for your own problems.
"Many people will not distinguish between the Shia militias that Iran is said to supply - and which have ties to the Iraqi government - and the Sunni insurgents who have been the cause of much of the violence.
"The allegedly Iranian supplied bombs are said to have caused the deaths of 170 American soldiers, but overall 2497 soldiers have been killed in hostile incidents, most of them at hands of the Sunnis.
"The claim serves the purpose of helping to lay the blame for the whole insurgency at Iran's door."
And Correntewire blogger Lambert points out a passage I overlooked in DeYoung's article in the Sunday Washington Post.
DeYoung wrote: "Some senior administration officials still relish the notion of a direct confrontation. One ambassador in Washington said he was taken aback when John Hannah, Vice President Cheney's national security adviser, said during a recent meeting that the administration considers 2007 'the year of Iran' and indicated that a U.S. attack was a real possibility. Hannah declined to be interviewed for this article."
A New York Times editorial this morning slams "last weekend's supersecret briefing in Baghdad by a group of American military officials whose names could not be revealed to the voters who are paying for this war with their taxes and their children's blood."
And it concludes: "[I]f Mr. Bush is worried that Americans no longer believe him when he warns of mortal threats to the country -- and he should be -- he needs to start proving that he really understands who is most responsible for the Iraq disaster. And he needs to explain how he plans to extricate American troops without setting off an even bigger war."
More From Snow
Also at yesterday's press briefing:
"Q You and others have said repeatedly that the U.S. is not preparing for war against Iran. Yet administration critics continue to say this is making the case for action against Iran.
