Story wrong about Iraqi pullback, White House says (NY Times contradicts self in lie)

CNN ^ | 7/9/2007 | cnn

[tobyhill]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's spokesman on Monday denied a published report that described intensifying debate among White House officials over whether to begin a gradual pullback of U.S. troops in Iraq.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said a story in The New York Times about a proposed "gradual withdrawal"of forces in "high-casualty neighborhoods in Baghdad and other cities" is "way ahead of the facts."

"There's no debate right now on withdrawing forces from Iraq," Snow said.

The report and denial come as a GOP senator said support for the president's war policy was eroding and as the Senate prepares to take up a major defense spending bill. Also, the Pentagon is focusing major attention on its upcoming report to Congress about U.S. "benchmarks" for Iraqi lawmakers aimed at reducing sectarian and insurgent violence.

Six months after the United States began deploying nearly 30,000 additional American forces, the Pentagon is downplaying expectations about the soon-to-be released "interim report" on the success of the "surge."

[tobyhill]

If the White House was considering a time table yesterday why was it the day before the Times editorial wrote,"It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor"?

[Stallone]

The NYTimes is rarely ‘way ahead of the facts’.

They aren’t even on the same journey.

[kevinm13]

Is anybody surprised by the NY Slimes and any of the anti-American slop it prints? It won’t be soon enough when this mess of a newspaper finally dies of its own incompetence.

[Brilliant]

Fake but accurate.

[Niteranger68]

An obvious coordinated attack by the media and Dems. They go together like an infection and pus.

[Cyclone59]

The NYTimes is always ‘way ahead of CREATING the facts’.

[Signalman]

I, for one, hope that troop withdrawl does begin and continue before the Election.

If we are still bogged down there by Nov. ‘08, it’s gives the Hildabeast that much more of a chance to win.

Of course, this is contingent upon the Iraqi forces being able to hold things together.

[tobyhill]

Then let Clinton declare defeat when she’s CIC! President Bush doesn’t believe we’re bogged down nor does he believe we’re defeated and he’s CIC. If the American people really feel the way the media portrays then they’ll vote Democrat no matter what happens now in Iraq. The RINOs are accomplishing nothing by substituting political desires over morally correctness.

[stylin19a]

seems like strategery to me. give false info to only one of your staff. If it hits the NYT, staff member will “resign” shortly.

[G Larry]

Dem’s and the MSM artificially established September as a critical status point for measuring the progress of the surge.
Now that it appears to be working, they feel it necessary to declare it a failure and quit now, because they can’t afford to have it determined to be a success in September.

[fortcollins]

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Monday that GOP lawmakers are questioning Bush’s policy in Iraq because of the “tremendous loss of life among our troops” and “the failure of the Iraqi government to pursue the political reforms that are necessary to quell the sectarian violence.”

3600 dead in 4 years. Does the Senator from Maine have even a tiny understanding of war and the history of war casualties?