The Bush administration, intensifying its so far fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq . . .
Gee, you never would have guessed the "so far fruitless" part from reading the breathless regurgitation of every rumored "discovery" around here. Somehow, I doubt that National Review or WorldNetDaily or Debka will be taking note of the "fruitless" part. I very much doubt it will diffuse through to the editorial page of the WSJ either. That's "objectivity" for you. Elsewhere on the "objective" reporting front, this VOA story had a similar lead but scrupulously left out the "so far fruitless" part:
Pentagon to Intensify Hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq voanews.com
The Pentagon is preparing to intensify its hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Officials plan to dispatch about 1,000 experts to the country, including some former U.N. weapons inspectors.
The stepped-up search will be conducted by the Iraq Survey Group, a largely civilian team that will be led by an as-yet unidentified general.
Rummy's got a line on that, though. He won't mention the "fruitless" part, but anybody who has any doubt what's going to turn up is preemptively a liar:
If any chemical or biological weapons are found, Mr. Rumsfeld acknowledges, he is concerned some countries and critics will claim the United States planted them. He says the teams will take care to validate their finds, much the way evidence is handled in criminal cases, to ensure it is not tainted.
But Mr. Rumsfeld says critics will still tell what he terms lies, much like Iraq's discredited former information minister. He suggests there is little the administration will be able to do about it.
Well, Rummy and Co. certainly haven't done a lot to keep the bloviating pundits from propagating a line somewhat contrary to the "fruitless" admission, but that's another matter entirely. Some lies are more equal than other lies, or something. |
