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Washington Post Editorial
Board Attempts To Erase Its Pre-War Rush To Invasion
Think
Progress
Friday, May 2, 2008
Today marks the fifth anniversary of President
Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech aboard
the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. To commemorate the occasion, the
Washington Post has trotted out its editorial from May 4, 2003.
The reprinted editorial contains a preface, emphasizing that
the WP disagreed with the infamous banner:
Five years ago, President Bush declared the mission in
Iraq accomplished. The Post editorial board disagreed. Here’s
what the board wrote on May 4, 2003. […]
Still, it’s also impossible to agree
with the banner that was draped near Mr. Bush on the carrier
deck, proclaiming “Mission Accomplished.” Aides
say the slogan was chosen in part to mark a presidential turn
toward domestic affairs as his campaign for reelection approaches.
… There is much to be done; the greatest tests and risks
still lie in the future.
It’s wonderful that the WP didn’t buy into Bush’s
PR stunt on May 1, 2003. But this self-congratulatory reprinting
of its May 4 op-ed is disingenuous. Among the the nation’s
major newspapers, the WP editorial board was one of the loudest
cheerleaders for war in Iraq. As Chris Mooney wrote for the
Columbia Journalism Review:
The paper started out hawkishly, echoing many
of Bush’s arguments and calling war “an operation
essential to American security” even before Powell’s
presentation. The Post then quickly endorsed Powell’s
WMD and al Qaeda claims. … Yet as invasion approached,
the paper shifted its tone. In two lengthy editorials, it
directly answered antiwar arguments and responded to readers
who’d accused the paper of “jingoism.” Following
this public grappling with dissent, the Post unleashed a flurry
of editorials smacking the Bush administration for “worryingly
vague” postwar planning. … The paper never changed
its stance on war, however.
(Article continues below)
As much as it would like to pat itself on the back for getting
one right, the WP editorial board had many more that were
wrong. A few lowlights:
“After Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s
presentation to the United Nations Security Council yesterday,
it is hard to imagine how anyone could doubt that Iraq possesses
weapons of mass destruction.” [2/6/03]
“The Perils of Passivity” [2/13/03]
“But the United States cannot again join the Security
Council in backing down from a confrontation with the Iraqi
dictator, as it did repeatedly during the 1990s, also under
pressure from France and Russia.” [2/16/03]
“In the case of Iraq, the functioning
of American democracy has been pretty straightforward. President
Bush has been respectful of opponents, at least at home, as
he should be on such a momentous issue.” [2/23/03]
Evidently, getting just one editorial right is a “mission
accomplished” for the Washington Post.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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