Sunday, June 5, 2005 1:40 p.m. EDT
Russert Grills Mehlman on Impeach Memo
"Meet the Press" host Tim Russert became the first network newsman on Sunday to cover a British memo touted by crackpot Democrats as smoking-gun evidence that President Bush committed impeachable crimes.
During an interview with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, NBC's Washington bureau chief repeatedly asked about the Downing Street Memo, which alleges that Bush fabricated intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, calling the largely ignored document "now famous."
"[The head of British Intelligence] reported on his recent talks in Washington," said Russert, quoting the July 2002 memo.
"There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
Then the NBC host did his best to make the third-hand account sound like credible evidence of Bush wrongdoing, telling Mehlman:
"This is July of 2002. We didn't invade until March of 2003. And the prime minister of Great Britain is being told by the head of his intelligence that he went to Washington and believes that a decision had already been made and that the administration was fixing or manipulating the intelligence to support the policy."
The RNC chief called the memo's claims "discredited," noting that at least two previous U.S. investigations have probed the claims that Bush fabricated pre-war intelligence:
"Tim, that report has been discredited by everyone else who's looked at it since then. Whether it's the 9/11 Commission, whether it's the Senate, whoever's looked at this has said there was no effort to change the intelligence at all."
Still, Russert continued to cite the document, which contains no direct quotes from either President Bush or Prime Minister Blair, as if it contained damning evidence.
"The primary rationale given for the war, however, was the elimination of weapons of mass destruction," complained the "Meet the Press" host, before quoting another passage:
"And again I refer you to the memo of the prime minister's meeting. 'It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than half that of Libya, North Korea and Iran.'"
Mehlman said he disagreed with that assessment, noting:
"The fact is that the intelligence of this country, the intelligence of Britain, the intelligence of the United Nations, the intelligence all over the world said that there were weapons of mass destruction present in Iraq. We knew that Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction before. We still know that there was a weapons of mass destruction program."
On Thursday, Sen. John Kerry announced that he intended make an issue of the Downing Street Memo when Congress reconvenes on Monday.
"I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home," the top Democrat claimed.
In contrast to Russert's "now famous" claim, Kerry lamented that the U.S. press had ignored the British memo, saying, "It's amazing to me the way it escaped major media discussion."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/6/5/134215.shtml
Russert Grills Mehlman on Impeach Memo
"Meet the Press" host Tim Russert became the first network newsman on Sunday to cover a British memo touted by crackpot Democrats as smoking-gun evidence that President Bush committed impeachable crimes.
During an interview with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, NBC's Washington bureau chief repeatedly asked about the Downing Street Memo, which alleges that Bush fabricated intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, calling the largely ignored document "now famous."
"[The head of British Intelligence] reported on his recent talks in Washington," said Russert, quoting the July 2002 memo.
"There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
Then the NBC host did his best to make the third-hand account sound like credible evidence of Bush wrongdoing, telling Mehlman:
"This is July of 2002. We didn't invade until March of 2003. And the prime minister of Great Britain is being told by the head of his intelligence that he went to Washington and believes that a decision had already been made and that the administration was fixing or manipulating the intelligence to support the policy."
The RNC chief called the memo's claims "discredited," noting that at least two previous U.S. investigations have probed the claims that Bush fabricated pre-war intelligence:
"Tim, that report has been discredited by everyone else who's looked at it since then. Whether it's the 9/11 Commission, whether it's the Senate, whoever's looked at this has said there was no effort to change the intelligence at all."
Still, Russert continued to cite the document, which contains no direct quotes from either President Bush or Prime Minister Blair, as if it contained damning evidence.
"The primary rationale given for the war, however, was the elimination of weapons of mass destruction," complained the "Meet the Press" host, before quoting another passage:
"And again I refer you to the memo of the prime minister's meeting. 'It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than half that of Libya, North Korea and Iran.'"
Mehlman said he disagreed with that assessment, noting:
"The fact is that the intelligence of this country, the intelligence of Britain, the intelligence of the United Nations, the intelligence all over the world said that there were weapons of mass destruction present in Iraq. We knew that Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction before. We still know that there was a weapons of mass destruction program."
On Thursday, Sen. John Kerry announced that he intended make an issue of the Downing Street Memo when Congress reconvenes on Monday.
"I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home," the top Democrat claimed.
In contrast to Russert's "now famous" claim, Kerry lamented that the U.S. press had ignored the British memo, saying, "It's amazing to me the way it escaped major media discussion."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/6/5/134215.shtml