Progress Report: The Public Deception Campaign

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Mon, 20 Jun 2005 07:20:32 -0700

Progress Report: The Public Deception Campaign

" American Progress Action Fund "

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The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, Mipe Okunseinde and Christy

Harvey

www.progressreport.org

6/20/2005

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

IRAQ

 

The Public Deception Campaign

 

On May 1, 2003, President Bush, standing in front of a banner that

proclaimed " Mission Accomplished, " declared that " major combat

operations in Iraq have ended. " Eight hundred and twenty-five days and

$230 billion later, how's the administration's Iraq policy going?

Here's what Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) thinks: " Things aren't getting

better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely

disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they

go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq. " Hagel has a

point. This month, for example, " 47 U.S. troops [were] killed in the

first 15 days. That's already five more than the toll for the entire

month of June last year. " Instead of a strategy for success, the Bush

administration has launched " a renewed public-relations push. " But

Bush's " new PR campaign on Iraq seems remarkably similar to one he

launched almost two years ago. "

 

BUSH -- WE WENT TO WAR IN IRAQ BECAUSE OF 9/11: When all else fails,

invoke 9/11. Over the weekend, Bush " defended the war in Iraq, telling

Americans the United States was forced into war because of the

September 11 terror strikes. " According to Bush, " We went to war

because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are

still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our

citizens. " Too bad that isn't true. In September, 2003, Bush himself

acknowledged " We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved

with the September 11th [attacks]. " The bi-partisan 9/11 Commission

found that there was " no collaborative relationship " between Iraq and

al Qaeda. Nevertheless, Bush continues to claim that the Iraq war was

a direct result of 9/11 because people continue to believe him. An

October 2004 poll by the University of Maryland found that 75 percent

of Bush supporters believe Iraq was providing substantial support to

al Qaeda.

 

RICE -- WE SAID IRAQ WOULD BE A " GENERATIONAL COMMITMENT " : Appearing

on Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that

criticism of the administration was unjustified because " the

administration, I think, has said to the American people that it is a

generational commitment to Iraq. " Actually, the administration sold

the war to the American people by promising it would be short and

affordable. Vice President Dick Cheney, 3/16/03: " [M]y belief is we

will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. . . . I think it will go

relatively quickly. . . (in) weeks rather than months. " Donald

Rumsfeld, 2/7/03: " It is unknowable how long that conflict will last.

It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months. " Former Budget Mitch Daniels, 3/28/03: " The United States is committed to

helping Iraq recover from the conflict, but Iraq will not require

sustained aid… "

 

CHENEY -- THE INSURGENCY IS IN ITS " LAST THROES " : Appearing on Larry

King live late last month, Vice President Dick Cheney said the Iraq

insurgency was in its " last throes. " Over the last two days 75 people

were killed in Iraq by insurgent attacks. AP reports that the " rate of

insurgent attacks has risen dramatically since al-Jaafari announced

his Cabinet on April 28. " Since that time " at least 1,182 people have

been killed " by insurgents. General William Webster, the U.S.

commander for Baghdad, said, " certainly saying anything about

'breaking the back' or 'about to reach the end of the line' or those

kinds of things do not apply to the insurgency at this point. "

 

UNITED NATIONS

 

What Is The White House Hiding About Bolton?

 

As if the passage of the Henry Hyde United Nations Reform Act of 2005

was not proof enough, conservatives in Congress are gearing up today

to show the world how little respect they have for the United Nations.

Marching to the drumbeat of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,

Senate conservatives will force another vote on the nomination of John

Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations, even though the White

House has refused to release essential information about his tenure at

the State Department. But Senators that are committed to executive

branch accountability and genuine reform at the United Nations say

they will continue to oppose Bolton's nomination.

 

BUSH CONTINUES TO HIDE SYRIA INFORMATION ON BOLTON: At the State

Department Bolton may have " improperly sought to toughen intelligence

assessments of Syria as late as the summer of 2003, after the American

failure to find illicit weapons in Iraq had raised alarms about the

danger of inflated intelligence. " In light of Bolton's reputation for

" cherry-picking " intelligence and punishing dissenters for challenging

his views, Senators have sought out information on Bolton's actions

with regards to Syria's weapons program. Despite repeated requests,

the Bush adminstration continues to refuse to supply this key information.

 

BUSH CONTINUES TO HIDE INDENTITIES OF BOLTON TARGETS: Furthermore,

Bolton then " asked for -- and recieved -- the identities of 10

different U.S. officials who were either involved in or talked about

in top-secret National Security communication intercepts, " a move that

some suspect was meant " to monitor others at State who disagreed with

his views. " Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid has offered a compromise

whereby the Bush administration would only have to share information

if the official appeared on a list of " three dozen names. " The

administration has refused to compromise.

 

STATE DEPT. BECOMES EFFECTIVE...ONCE BOLTON LEAVES: The aftermath of

Bolton's departure from the State Department is clear evidence that he

is a roadblock, not a facilitator. Despite the " heightened threat

perception " after 9/11, " the pace at which fissile materials -- the

nuclear gunpowder that is vital to a terrorist's nuclear bomb -- were

secured or destroyed did not accelerate. " As undersecretary of state,

Bolton was in charge of " a key U.S. program intended to keep Russian

nuclear fuel out of terrorist hands. " At the time, Senator Pete

Domenici (R-NM) blamed Bolton for the various impasses and questioned

if he was even up to the job. Now with Bolton gone from State, " U.S.

negotiators report a breakthrough with the Russians...clearing the way

to eliminate enough plutonium to fuel 8,000 nuclear bombs. "

Furthermore, " for many arms-control advocates and even fellow

diplomats, Bolton's departure is a welcome relief and an opportunity

to restore a more pragmatic approach to international relations. "

 

BOLTON PLAYS POINT-MAN IN ILLEGAL FIRING: The disclosure of John

Bolton's unlawful orchestration of the firing of Jose Bustani, head of

the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, shows just

how far he will go to fix intelligence around policy. When the Bush

administration was struggling to justify going to war with Iraq,

Bustani was seen as one of the " foremost obstacles to war. " The

problem with Bustani was that he " was trying to send chemical weapons

inspectors to Baghadad [which] might have helped defuse the crisis

over alleged Iraqi weapons and undermined a U.S. rationale for war. "

Bolton decided that Bustani " had to go " and so, through political and

financial pressures, had Bustani ousted. A United Nations tribunal

subsequently rebuked Bolton's maneuvering.

 

BATTLE OVER BOLTON IS NOT PARTISAN POLITICS: Despite assertions to the

contrary, the fight over the Bolton nomination is not a partisan

issue. In fact, some of the individuals who have provided the

strongest case for why Bolton should not be confirmed are firm

supporters of President Bush and also former colleagues of Bolton.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has emerged as a

behind-the-scenes force against John Bolton's nomination, privately

telling key lawmakers that Bolton is " a smart but very problematic

government official. " And one of the most eye-opening insights into

John Bolton came from Carl Ford Jr., a staunch conservative. As former

intelligence chief at the State Department, Ford worked directly with

Bolton and in congressional testimony described him as " a 'bully' who

abused his authority and power, intimidated intelligence analysts, and

damaged the integrity of the [Department of State]. "

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

VALUES -- " ANTI-GAMBLING " CONSERVATIVES STRUCK IT RICH WITH CASINO

TRIBE: Top right-wing activists Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed -- both

public opponents of gambling -- reportedly received hundreds of

thousands of dollars from the Choctaw Indians, who run casinos in

Mississippi, and who were clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In 1999, the Choctaws gave $1.1 million to Norquist's nonprofit,

Americans for Tax Reform, Newsweek reports. " Norquist, at the urging

of Abramoff and Reed, then sent the money to religious conservative

groups fighting pro-gaming efforts in Alabama...The deal helped both

Abramoff's gambling client and Reed, ...whose consulting firm was

hired by the conservative groups. "

 

IRAQ -- U.S. COVERED UP USE OF NAPALM FIREBOMBS IN IRAQ: The

Independent reports, " American officials lied to British ministers

over the use of 'internationally reviled' napalm-type firebombs in

Iraq. " While the U.S. assured Britain that the napalm-type firebombs

that were used during the initial invasion were directed away from

civilian targets, the paper says " the confirmation that US officials

misled British ministers led to new questions last night about the

value of the latest assurances by the US. " The 1980 Convention on

Certain Conventional Weapons (CWW) permits the use of these types of

firebombs as long as they are directed only at military targets. While

Britian ratfied the CWW, the U.S. has not.

 

RACE -- SENATORS DEFEND FAILURE TO CO-SPONSOR ANTI-LYNCHING

LEGISLATION: According to Roll Call, senators who failed to co-sponsor

the anti-lynching resolution which passed last week have had a hard

time telling a straight story about their absences. " From being busy

with other legislative business to a belief that the measure was

simply not necessary, 13 Senate Republicans offered a variety of

explanations for their decision not to co-sponsor a resolution

apologizing for the chamber's past inaction on lynching. " At least

three Senators have noted that they would have " preferred a different

approach. "

 

NAT'L SECURITY -- UZBEK MASSACRE UNITS RECEIVED U.S. AID: " Uzbek law

enforcement and security ministries implicated by witnesses in the

deadly crackdown in the city of Andijon last month have for years

received training and equipment from counterterrorism programs run by

the United States, " the New York Times reports. For instance, one of

the elite Uzbek counterterror units present at the massacres had " two

or three members who trained in a course sponsored by the State

Department for crisis-response commanders in Louisiana in 2004. "

Another report this weekend in the Scotsman detailed how Britain was

also involved in training Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov's military forces.

 

PRIVACY -- MASTERCARD BREACH RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT NEED FOR GREATER

PROTECTIONS: Coming on the heels of major identity theft scandals

involving Choicepoint, Lexis-Nexis, and even the Department of

Justice's travel agency, MasterCard International announced 40 million

card holders of all brands might be exposed to fraud due to a security

breach. The breach involves 13.9 million MasterCard accounts, 22

million for Visa USA and an unspecified number for American Express

and Discover. With security breaches becoming more prevalent, there is

also a greater concern that the federal government could be next.

Personal information in the hands of strangers is disconcerting

enough, but secret intelligence stolen by our enemies would be even

more dangerous. The Center for American Progress has recommended a

number of measures that could be taken immediately to secure personal

information assembled by government contractors.

 

GOOD NEWS

 

Putting their foot down against the Bush administration's practice of

extraordinary rendition, allies to the United States " have begun to

resist Washingon's secretive role in spiriting away terror suspects. "

 

DON'T MISS

 

CORRUPTION: " Cunningscam " now the focus of a grand jury investigation.

 

POLITICS: Bush finds rough-going in second-term.

 

NUCLEAR: Paper runs censored American account of A-bomb aftermath in

Nagasaki.

 

IRAN: Bush barbs backfire.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency. "

-- Vice President Dick Cheney, 5/30/05

 

VERSUS

 

" Certainly saying anything about 'breaking the back' or 'about to

reach the end of the line' or those kinds of things do not apply to

the insurgency at this point. "

-- Gen. William Webster, U.S. commander for Baghdad, 6/18/05

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

 

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, refusing to allow a sad tragedy to fade,

continues to politicize the death of Terri Schiavo. He has convinced a

prosecutor to look into allegations that Michael Schiavo did not call

9-11 immediately after the collapse of his wife 15 years ago.

 

© Copyright 2005 by American Progress Action Fund. All rights reserved.