A Good Leak (WaPo editorial!)

The Washington Post ^ | 4/9/06 | Editorial staff

[knuthom]

PRESIDENT BUSH was right to approve the declassification of parts of a National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq three years ago in order to make clear why he had believed that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons. Presidents are authorized to declassify sensitive material, and the public benefits when they do. But the administration handled the release clumsily, exposing Mr. Bush to the hyperbolic charges of misconduct and hypocrisy that Democrats are leveling.

[knuthom]

The material that Mr. Bush ordered declassified established, as have several subsequent investigations, that Mr. Wilson was the one guilty of twisting the truth.

snip

As Mr. Fitzgerald pointed out at the time of Mr. Libby's indictment last fall, none of this is particularly relevant to the question of whether the grounds for war in Iraq were sound or bogus. It's unfortunate that those who seek to prove the latter would now claim that Mr. Bush did something wrong by releasing for public review some of the intelligence he used in making his most momentous decision.

If the Washington Post can figure this out, why can't the rest of the MSM?

[eddie willers]

bump

[Tarpon]

The Washington post just wants to be the 'last dino off the cliff'.

[weegee]

I thought I saw a WP byline on at least one of the articles taking him to task for "leaking" the information.

[ChicagoHebrew]

If the Washington Post can figure this out, why can't the rest of the MSM?

Because the Washington Post has, for the past 3-4 years anyway, been significantly more fair, objective, and moderate than the rest of the MSM. Don't get me wrong, the WP is still liberal in its editorial slant -- but it's actual news reporting is first-rate, devoid of the garbage (i.e. all the liberal fabrifications) that have haunted the NYT and the broadcast media.

[singledot777]

The Washington Post should make up its mind. On one hand in the News section they OVERANALYZE Wilson's trip, and publish an articled titled "A 'Concerted Effort' to Discredit Bush Critic" while on the other hand they opine that Wilson's trip was ovenalyzed.
The Wapo got it right in the editorial, but made sure it screwed it up in the News section. Let's be careful in praising this editorial. It's a bait.

[BW2221]

The Washington Post calling Democrats hypocrites. I'm shocked!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Hell has indeed frozen over.

[Mo1]

The WP is turning on Wilson and Fitz???

[singledot777]

In the News section, the Wapo discredited the claim that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger. the wapo is schizophrenic today.

[oxcart]

This is in the Post?

Someone has made a tremendous error...front page correction on Monday.

[Semi Civil Servant]

OK, who hacked into the Post's master layout computer and sneaked this one in?

[mainepatsfan]

True. They were trashing Rather while the NY Times was printing the "fake but accurate" headlines.

[1rudeboy]

Nice to see the WaPo editorial board finally coming-around on this issue. Too bad it took days . . . maybe it required serious thought? /bitter sarcasm

[singledot777]

Wapo also say in april 7th that the leak story "gives Democrats fresh material to accuse him of hypocrisy." Again, let's not give them too much credit for getting it right 1 out of 10 times.

[woofie]

But the administration handled the release clumsily, exposing Mr. Bush to the hyperbolic charges of misconduct and hypocrisy that Democrats are leveling.

It woulda happened no matter how the President handled it

[DesScorp]

Notice that WaPo absolutely rips Wilson a new one...

"...that Mr. Wilson was the one guilty of twisting the truth. In fact, his report supported the conclusion that Iraq had sought uranium."

This has, of course, sparked utter outrage over at our favorite 5th Columnist site, DailyKos. Their front page story is how the WaPo editors are all fascist @ssholes for showing Wilson to be the publicity hounding idiot he is. Nothing incites Leftist rage more than a liberal news outlet turning on one of their own.

[xcamel]

Down Here:

[Steely Tom]

But the administration handled the release clumsily

Oh, yeah. This is so true. Really, if you want to see how to handle a "release" with a full ration of inside-the-beltway savoir-faire, I need only refer you to the boundless cleverness of the Washington Post's handling of the famous Janet Cooke "Jimmy's World" episode.