The rules don't apply to Bush, Chapter 367


I had sort of decided to take today off, but then I couldn't resist passing on Tim Grieve's observations from Salon (Those Iranian weapons, or follow the bouncing ball). The article is mostly about the shifting stories and evasive circumlocutions in which the Administration has engaged since its anonymous spokesmen gave the press slam dunk proof that Iran was providing weapons to fighters in Iraq. This is what caught my eye:

Wednesday, President George W. Bush: "What we do know is that the Quds force was instrumental in providing these deadly IEDs to networks inside of Iraq. We know that. And we also know that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government. That's a known. What we don't know is whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds force to do what they did. But here's my point: Either they knew or didn't know, and what matters is, is that they're there. What's worse, that the government knew or that the government didn't know?"

Maybe it's reasonable to assume that people in the highest levels of Iran's government know what members of the al-Quds unit are doing. Maybe it's not. Our view? We'll start making the leap of faith about what high-level Iranian officials must know just as soon as the White House starts accepting the same sort of arguments about itself.

How does this one sound, Mr. President? What we do know is that members of the U.S. military were responsible for acts of torture at Abu Ghraib. We know that. And we also know that the U.S. military is part of the U.S. government. That's a known. What we don't know is whether or not the head leaders of the U.S. government ordered the U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib to do what they did. But here's our point: Either they knew or didn't know, and what matters is, is that they did it. What's worse, that the government knew or that the government didn't know?

This government has engaged in this sort of double standard logic so long that we have stopped noticing. When someone raises it afresh it sort of brings you up short. Wouldn't it be nice if someone in the press corps today had thought to ask this question? I'm not criticizing by the way, I wouldn't have thought of it either.
Posted: Wednesday - February 14, 2007 at 09:08 PM          

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