Was Bob Woodward Slam-Dunked?
By Robert Parry
ConsortiumNews
July 7, 2006
One of the most memorable behind-the-scenes accounts of pre-Iraq War decision-making was Bob Woodward’s story of an Oval Office meeting on Dec. 21, 2002, when George W. Bush and his top advisers reviewed the CIA’s case against Saddam Hussein for supposedly hiding weapons of mass destruction.
Using flip charts, deputy CIA director John McLaughlin presented the evidence while President Bush watched impatiently. When McLaughlin finished, Bush reportedly remarked, “Nice try” and added “I’ve been told all this intelligence about having WMD and this is the best we’ve got?”
According to Woodward’s account, CIA director George Tenet then rose from a couch, threw his arms into the air and exclaimed, “It’s a slam-dunk case!”
When Bush pressed – “George, how sure are you?” – the CIA director supposedly threw his arms up again and declared, “Don’t worry, it’s a slam dunk!” According to Woodward, Bush then cautioned Tenet several times, “Make sure no one stretches to make our case.”
Almost a year later, in an exclusive interview with Woodward on Dec. 11, 2003 – after the U.S. invasion of Iraq had come up empty in the search for caches of WMD – Bush confided to Woodward that Tenet’s assurance had been “very important” in the presidential decision to go to war.
When the “slam-dunk” story appeared in Woodward’s 2004 book, Plan of Attack, it immediately made Tenet the butt of endless jokes and portrayed Bush as the skeptical leader who wanted the truth but was misled by his subordinates.
While some Bush critics immediately questioned Woodward’s version of events, the Washington Post star reporter carried tremendous weight among his mainstream journalistic colleagues who enshrined Woodward’s inside story as the new conventional wisdom.
However, in the two years since publication of Plan of Attack, other evidence has emerged suggesting that Woodward was acting less as an objective journalist than as a stenographer taking down the preferred history of Bush’s inner circle. The legendary hero of the Watergate scandal may have been the one who was slam-dunked.
(The rest is here.)
ConsortiumNews
July 7, 2006
One of the most memorable behind-the-scenes accounts of pre-Iraq War decision-making was Bob Woodward’s story of an Oval Office meeting on Dec. 21, 2002, when George W. Bush and his top advisers reviewed the CIA’s case against Saddam Hussein for supposedly hiding weapons of mass destruction.
Using flip charts, deputy CIA director John McLaughlin presented the evidence while President Bush watched impatiently. When McLaughlin finished, Bush reportedly remarked, “Nice try” and added “I’ve been told all this intelligence about having WMD and this is the best we’ve got?”
According to Woodward’s account, CIA director George Tenet then rose from a couch, threw his arms into the air and exclaimed, “It’s a slam-dunk case!”
When Bush pressed – “George, how sure are you?” – the CIA director supposedly threw his arms up again and declared, “Don’t worry, it’s a slam dunk!” According to Woodward, Bush then cautioned Tenet several times, “Make sure no one stretches to make our case.”
Almost a year later, in an exclusive interview with Woodward on Dec. 11, 2003 – after the U.S. invasion of Iraq had come up empty in the search for caches of WMD – Bush confided to Woodward that Tenet’s assurance had been “very important” in the presidential decision to go to war.
When the “slam-dunk” story appeared in Woodward’s 2004 book, Plan of Attack, it immediately made Tenet the butt of endless jokes and portrayed Bush as the skeptical leader who wanted the truth but was misled by his subordinates.
While some Bush critics immediately questioned Woodward’s version of events, the Washington Post star reporter carried tremendous weight among his mainstream journalistic colleagues who enshrined Woodward’s inside story as the new conventional wisdom.
However, in the two years since publication of Plan of Attack, other evidence has emerged suggesting that Woodward was acting less as an objective journalist than as a stenographer taking down the preferred history of Bush’s inner circle. The legendary hero of the Watergate scandal may have been the one who was slam-dunked.
(The rest is here.)
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1 Comments:
Woodward's motivation hasn't always been crystal clear this time 'round. He doesn't seem to be in top form or objective enough to be trusted—whether he misleads by accident or on purpose isn't clear.
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