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Ex-aide Scott McClellan Says Bush Misled the U.S. on War
WASHINGTON — Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated “political propaganda campaign” led by President Bush and aimed at “manipulating sources of public opinion” and “downplaying the major reason for going to war.”
McClellan, 40, includes the charges in his book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” that delivers a harsh look at the White House and the man he served for close to a decade. He describes Bush as demonstrating a “lack of inquisitiveness,” says the White House operated in “permanent campaign” mode and says he was deceived by some in the president’s inner circle about the leak of a CIA operative’s name.
He accuses former White House adviser Karl Rove of misleading him about his role in the CIA case. He describes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as being deft at deflecting blame and calls Vice President Dick Cheney “the magic man” who steered policy behind the scenes.
McClellan, who was a tight-lipped defender of administration aides and policy, stops short of saying Bush purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq, writing that he and his subordinates were not “employing out-and-out deception” to make their case for war.
But in one chapter, “Selling the War,” he alleges that the administration repeatedly shaded the truth and that Bush “managed the crisis in a way that almost guaranteed that the use of force would become the only feasible option.”
McClellan resigned from the White House on April 19, 2006, after nearly three years as Bush’s press secretary.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the book, some contents of which were first disclosed by Politico.com. The Washington Post acquired a copy of the book Tuesday, in advance of its official release Monday.
The criticisms of Bush in the book are striking, given that they come from a man who followed Bush to Washington from Texas.
Bush is depicted as an out-of-touch leader, operating in a political bubble, who stubbornly refused to admit mistakes. McClellan defends the president’s intellect — “Bush is plenty smart enough to be president,” he writes — but casts him as unwilling or unable to be reflective about his job.
The former aide describes Bush as a willing participant in treating his presidency as a permanent political campaign, run in large part by his top political adviser, Rove.
“The president had promised himself that he would accomplish what his father had failed to do by winning a second term in office,” he writes. “And that meant operating continually in campaign mode: never explaining, never apologizing, never retreating. Unfortunately, that strategy also had less justifiable repercussions: never reflecting, never reconsidering, never compromising. Especially not where Iraq was concerned.”
He charges that the campaign-style focus affected Bush’s entire presidency. The ill-fated Air Force One flyover of New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina struck the city, was conceived of by Rove, who was “thinking about the political perceptions” but ended up making Bush look “out of touch,” McClellan writes.
McClellan admits to letting himself be deceived about the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, which resulted in his relentless pounding by the White House media corps over the activities of Rove and Cheney aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby in the matter. He also suggests that Rove and Libby may have worked to coordinate their stories about the Plame leak.
By Michael D. Shear
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6 Responses to “Ex-aide Scott McClellan Says Bush Misled the U.S. on War”
Posted on 28 May 2008 at 3:25 pm by Kevin Gallagher
Well OK then when do the indictments start coming down. Let the War Crimes trials begin.
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Posted on 28 May 2008 at 4:18 pm by Anna Catherine
So now what? More hearings, executive privilege, lost e-mails, etc. Same old, same old. What a shame.
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Posted on 28 May 2008 at 4:35 pm by peter knopfler
Thankyou, maybe I’m just too old fashion. Someone who was happy to receive a paycheck ftom his employer has little to say after the fact. He knew what was going on, and if, it was against his principles, HE SHOULD HAVE QUIT. Not open His mouth after it’s all over, Remember the words of the Buddha,”He, who sheds light on others faults, only doubles their own”.”Karma will deal with McClellan harshly, He’ll get fat from the money he makes on the book, cancer uses fat for transportation, there is your Karma, What you do to others You do to Yourself! Peter.
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Posted on 28 May 2008 at 5:55 pm by Dwight Bobson
OK, so where is the news in this? Any one capable of rational thought knew this stuff ages ago.
Not to worry about anyone getting their due. Only the poor and the unbelievably stupid get punished in the USA. And Bush isn’t stupid, he is simply ignorant.
By the way, when do we get our apologies from Yale and Harvard, or doesn’t it matter as long as they receive large endowments in the end?
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Posted on 28 May 2008 at 10:43 pm by Dominick J.
This is from Congressman Wexler and does it ever speak volumes. We need to get rid of the likes of a person named Pelosi!!
Last night, significant news broke that directly impacts our push for Impeachment Hearings and a possible Inherent Contempt charge for Bush Administration officials such as Karl Rove:
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has revealed in his upcoming book that:
• Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Vice President Cheney lied about their role in revealing the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson – actions easily amounting to obstruction of Justice.
McClellan also admitted that:
• There was a coordinated effort within the Bush Administration to use propaganda to pump up the case for the Iraq war and hide the projected costs of the war from the public.
Scott McClellan must be called to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee to tell Congress and the American people everything he knows about this massive effort by the White House to deceive this nation into war.
Last week, a subpoena was issued for Karl Rove to testify before the Judiciary Committee. It appears he will take every legal action to block this subpoena. The truth is that Congress has the right – and obligation – to hold him accountable now - not months or years from now. It is long past time to pass Inherent Contempt and bring Rove, Libby and others before Congress.
We simply cannot ignore these recent developments, nor should we postpone serious inquiry until after the next election.
Your commitment to accountability for the Bush/Cheney Administration, and the support of 230,000 other Americans who signed up at wexlerwantshearings.com, has inspired and motivated me in my effort to hold impeachment hearings for Vice President Dick Cheney and Inherent Contempt for Rove and others. During the past months I have been a tireless and dogged advocate of this vitally important cause.
Many of you have written me, asking for an update on where we stand with regards to impeachment hearings. I know most of you believe - as I do - that impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney – are not only justified, but that it is our constitutional obligation to look into the serious allegations of wrongdoing that have been raised. This is especially true based on the newest revelations from Scott McClellan.
I believe that it is the duty of Congress to pursue impeachment whenever there’s significant evidence of wrongdoing, be it by Republicans or Democrats, regardless of the timing of elections or the current political environment.
Some of you have written me demanding that I deliver hearings or impeachment. As hard as I have been fighting for this cause, I cannot make impeachment happen by myself. What I can do, and what I have been doing at every turn, is trying to communicate two simple messages to my colleagues:
• the serious allegations of wrongdoing and the clear-cut rationale for impeachment hearings;and
• the fact that the public will support our efforts when Congress boldly acts on the side of justice and accountability.
Unfortunately, to date, these arguments have not been enough to convince even a majority of the liberal and progressive Members of Congress to support impeachment hearings. In addition, the leadership of the Democratic Party in Congress genuinely feels that pursuing impeachment will jeopardize our congressional agenda and threaten gains in the November elections. Although I genuinely disagree with this view, to date I have been unable to convince them to change this policy.
I understand the challenges that we are up against, and I recognize the odds that we face. Nevertheless, I remain unfazed and unyielding.
This new evidence from Scott McClellan could be the tipping point – but we must move quickly. I will use the McClellan admissions to help convince my colleagues that we must hold impeachment hearings.
Regardless, I will continue to fight for progressive values and our Constitution. I will do everything I can to pursue accountability for criminal actions taken by this Administration and this Vice President. I will be a furious opponent to any expansion of this misguided war, and I will fight against the use of torture by our government and to protect our civil liberties here at home.
Most of all, I will continue my efforts to convince my fellow members of Congress and voters, that we should not be a party of passivity - but that we succeed when we present the public with stark choices that are based on the guarantees in our Constitution, and not on the politics of the moment.
I will continue - at every pass - to call for impeachment and accountability. While I wish more of my colleagues supported our movement, we must not let our discouragement lead to apathy and distraction in this important election year when we must break free from eight long years of illegalities, corporate handouts, and a tragic and devastating war.
We should not end the calls for impeachment. I will push against the crimes of the Bush Administration whenever I am provided the opportunity. I will use my role on the Judiciary Committee to take on Administration officials – like I have done with Condoleezza Rice, Attorney Generals Gonzalez and Mukasey, and FBI Director Mueller.
I have not given up our fight to hold this Administration accountable and neither can you. I am grateful for your patriotism and your support. I’ll continue to keep you informed and part of the conversation.
Sincerely,
Congressman Robert Wexler
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Posted on 29 May 2008 at 1:17 am by Cord;ey Coit
Even the worse rats seem to run from the stinky crew on the ship of state. They have a choice of runinng now or walking the plank later.
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