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January 23, 2004 Atriospin It's time to give Atrios reading comprehension lessons..... In an interview this month, Vice President Dick Cheney touted a report and leaked classified document that the Administration itself has billed "inaccuarate" as the basis for his Iraq-Al Qaeda claims.(sigh) Here we go again. I'm pretty sure Atrios knows exactly what the Defense Department actually said, so this is the most desparate of spins. To quote from their statement.... News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate.[emphasis added]To recap: The DEFENSE DEPARTMENT didn't confirm the data as "new". Well, no S***, Sherlock. Some of it dates back to the early 90s. Later in the statement, they refer to it as "raw reports or products of the CIA, the National Security Agency or, in one case, the Defense Intelligence Agency". ...and since there have been no denials from those agencies - in fact, they allowed the DoD release - one might reasonably assume they stand behind the data. Atrios presses on.... Additionally, the Administration criticized the leak saying "Individuals who leak or purport to leak classified information are doing serious harm to national security; such activity is deplorable and may be illegal." Now, though, Cheney is actively trumpeting the "inaccurate" document as the basis for his unsubstantiated claims.Funny, I wouldn't think Atrios would be opposed to the administration mentioning classified information that had been leaked. I'll remember that the next time he complains about insufficient administration attention being paid to the Plame affair. |