The Horse's Mouth lists the Administration's lies about the Petraeus report

Again and Again, White House Falsely Described Coming Iraq Report As Solely The Work Of Petraeus

By now you've probably heard the news that the report on Iraqi progress we've been expecting in September from General Petraeus is actually going to be written by the White House, with "input" from "officials throughout government."

As the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story today, suggests, this revelation is at odds with "Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker." In other words, the White House has repeatedly said that this report will represent the Gospel According To Petraeus -- except, of course, that it won't. At the White House gaggle today, deputy press secretary Dana Perino was asked to confirm or deny this -- and she dodged the question.

In light of this news, we thought it would be interesting to go back and look at just how comprehensive, thorough, and coordinated the White House effort to convince the American people that this report will represent Petraeus' exclusive word has been until now.

So TPM's Eric Kleefeld and I went back to see just how many times White House officials said the report would be the work of Petraeus, or of Petraeus and Crocker. It wasn't hard to find examples. In fact, we stopped at ten. If you look at them all together, it really becomes clear just how premeditated -- and how audacious -- the White House's deception campaign here really has been.

This isn't just some academic exercise, by the way. It goes directly to the heart of the credibility of the report itself -- something which a tremendous amount is being staked on in advance of the showdowns between the White House and Congress on Iraq that are coming this fall. Anyway, here goes:

(Continued here. BarbinMD at Daily Kos lists all the Senate Republicans who lined up to repeat the propaganda line:)

Senate Minority Leader McConnell:

Let me remind the Senate of what we agreed to...We voted, and put into law, that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker would report in September on progress. The benchmarks report and the timeline we set in May was clear. It gave us, the troops, and our allies, clarity on what was expected.

Senator McCain:

The war will be discussed in September again—we all know that—when General Petraeus is ready to report to the Senate...General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will come to Washington in September to report on the status of their efforts and those of the Iraqis.

Senator Sessions:

To press the point further, I strongly believe that whatever the inclinations of Senators on the conduct of the war in Iraq, to change our strategy now before we even hear from General Petraeus in September would be a colossal blunder for a host of reasons. To do so would be unthinkable...I am anxious to hear General Petraeus’s report.

Senator Coleman:

Fifty-four days ago we sent a message to General Petraeus: Go forth with the surge, and then come back and report to us.

(The entire post is here.)