White House tries to end 'frenzy' over Iraq-Africa line

[Judi Lynn]

White House tries to end 'frenzy' over Iraq-Africa line
Fleischer: 'The bottom line has been gotten to.'
From Dana Bash
CNN Washington Bureau
Monday, July 14, 2003 Posted: 12:45 PM EDT (1645 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attempting to stop what he called a "media frenzy" over the president's disputed State of the Union claim that Iraq sought uranium from Africa, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Monday the line was not a major part of the U.S. justification for war.

"This revisionist notion that somehow this is now the core of why we went to war, a central issue of why we went to war, a fundamental underpinning of the president's decisions, is a bunch of bull," Fleischer told reporters Monday.

Echoing an argument used Sunday by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Fleischer said the claim was only one component in a broad argument for deposing Saddam Hussein.

Friday, Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet accepted responsibility for allowing the line to stay in the January 28 State of the Union address, but many Democrats say the White House still has explaining to do. (Full story)

Fleischer indicated the White House does not intend to find or disclose answers.

"The bottom line has been gotten to," he said. (snip/...)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/14/white.house.intel/index.html

[bif]

1. Keep lying Ari

as you sail off into the sunset, you asshole!

[ThorsteinVeblen]

2. Now,

Watch the Democrats and Media roll over.

They like to be told what to do. They have shown it over and over and over again.

Howard Fucking Dean.

[asjr]

3. WH

The WH arrogance continues. No, this is not the end. The press today was more combative than I have ever seen them. I just hope they keep it up. Ari's (WH) reasoning for the difference in the speech in October and the SOTU speech was absolutely ridiculous.

[ROakes1019]

15. apples and oranges

I, too, found this statement to be one Ari's most absurd.  He
implied there was loads of intelligence pointing to attempted
sales from other African nations.  If so, why hasn't
anyone--Condi, Rummy, Bush, or Tenet--specifically divulged
what that intelligence is?  Surely, this is no longer a
security matter.  I just hope that whatever investigation is
launched, even if behind closed doors, that intelligence will
be called for.  Meanwhile, similar lies are coming from Blair
et al.  Uranium attempts intelligence came from the French, of
all people.  If that were true, wouldn't France have been gung
ho for the war?  British intelligence reports say now that
intelligence has not been shared with UN intelligence.  My
god, how many lies can be heaped on this thing?  This is much,
much worse than Watergate.

[NYC]

22. Then why didn't they use the loads of intelligence pointing to

attempted sales from/by other African countries? Why did they choose to cite the "intelligence" that was based on the forgeries/lies?

Good question for them.

[Beetwasher]

4. Making Matters Worse

Keeping it in the news and making it worse. That's all this does. There's too many unanswered questions.

Nobody ever said that this line was the underpinning of why we went to war. The admin. is trying to spin it this way and it's lame. WMD's and an imminent threat were the reason and this claim was part and parcel of that. Not to mention that EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THEY USED AS JUSTIFICATION HAS BEEN DISCREDITED. NOT ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE STANDS UP TO SCRUTINY. NOT ONE!!

[shockingelk]

6. preaching to the choir

This type of spin will only work with the party faithful ... seems like they've never moved past the fourth quarter of 2001 ... they think everybody's the party faithful.

[underpants]

13. As I said before this was their swing at the fences

The 3 main reasons, as you pointed out, have been discredited. This lie was their home run ball, "The bogeyman has the bomb". No apparently he doesn't/didn't-- nowhere near it.

What this really shows is the process (or lack there of) they use on every issue:

Policy has been decided (PNAC)
Run it through the focus groups to see if the message will stand up and if they get what we mean
Find something to back it up and if nothing is found make up your own (OSP) and tell everyone to keep their mouths shut.

[Sushi_lover]

5. Mushroom Cloud Smoking Gun

Both Bush and Powell said "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

Condoleeza Rice said the aluminum tubes could only be used to make nuclear bombs.

So it was more than 16 words. It was a third of their "imminent threat" campaign for pre-emptive invasion:

1/3 - bio weapons
1/3 - chem weapons
1/3 - nuclear weapons

[robbedvoter]

7. Right. And the other two thirds didn't pan out either!

Ari's career started with the "Clinton demolished AF1 and ends with "what nuclear threat as reason for war". Stelar!

[Brotherjohn]

11. And the other 2/3...

Bio-weapons: Boils down to trailers used to produce hydrogen balloons used in conventional artillery practice. Oh, and maybe some culture media. Maybe.

Chem-weapons: Boils down to being impossible to prove a negative (that one cannot account to the alleged thousands of tons of chem weapons that perhaps were or were not produced and perhaps were or were not destroyed).

No case. Game over.

[ROakes1019]

17. more lies

So many of these numbnuts have spouted lies that I can't
remember who said this, maybe all of them: The chem protection
suits we found along with atropine proves they planned to use
chem weapons.  Well, our troops slogged around in the desert
for weeks in those suits.  It seems just as sane to say we
planned to use chems and wanted to protect our troops. 
Couldn't the Iraqis have been issuing protective suits for the
same reason: they thought we would use chems on them?

[Terran]

8. Man, that was *really* lame.

Well, it's his last news conference, so I guess we can't blame him for not coming up with something more clever than that performance. Basically echoing Condi's "It's only sixteen little words" explanation.

[Q]

9. Bush* told dozens of lies to make his 'case' for invasion...

...so prosecution of the Bushies won't be dependent on this one lie.

[treefrogjohn]

10. Time to start up the next drumbeat

I think it is now time to start focusing on the aluminum tubes. Keep them off balance. 16 words become 32 words become 64 words and eventually become the whole SOTU. Wouldn't that be cool.

[ewagner]

20. Tubes

That's as good as any....

You've got the right idea (IMHO). There was more than one lie.

Keep bringing them to the top of the news and eventually it will undermine his public support.

[damnraddem]

12. The 'revisionist history' Ari speaks of is apparently:

that the reasons given for going to war were the reasons for going to war. By calling it 'revisionist history,' Ari seems to be admitting that the Administration lied in stating its reasons for the invasion.

[Not a robought]

16. That's exactly what it sounds like

and similarly when * says 'revisionists' I wonder who else is he speaking of except for the people within his cabinet who toured the Sunday morning talk shows to sell this war.

I think Ari's absolutely right. This wasn't the central reason to go to war... it was oil.

[zekeson]

14. "The bottom line has been gotten to," he said.

Uh, no Ari, despite yours and Asscrofts and your other fellow thieves worst intents this is still a democracy. It ain't over until we, the people say its over. You best get the heck out of town, boy. I think the wrath of the people is soon to come down. The drip drip drip of constant lying and outright theft is going to bring this banana republic maladministration down.

[underpants]

18. The bottom line is that they need to stop digging

and forget about getting a bigger shovel they are in a big enough HOLE as it is.

"Bottom Line" and "revisionist History" reek of coming out of a focus group. I was sure the "Revisionist" thing did when I heard Condi say it 5 times in half an hour on ABC This Week about a month ago.

[zekeson]

19. hey

its nice to see the underpants back on the screen!

[0007]

21. Who contrived the Niger document?

End of story.

[Bandit]

23. Here is the bottom line ari referred to

"Fleischer indicated the White House does not intend to find or disclose answers."
The Whitehouse does not intend to disclose answers. Right from the horses ass er I mean mouth.