Tuesday, February 24, 2004
An interesting article by Seth Ackerman in Mother Jones, A Legacy of Lies. Ackerman details how one of the more obsequeous rationales for believing that Iraq had WMDs -- defector Hussein Kamel's reports -- was actually doctored by two presidential administrations for the purposes of maintaining political policy. Ackerman cites numerous sources in making his case and paints a disturbing picture of how the government has essentially mislead the public in its (mis)use of Kamel's reports. With the Bush administration coming under fire for intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq war, this example is an interesting anecdote illustrating that misinformation is not inherent in one administration's or one party's policy. It seems to be part and parcel of our government's foreign policy strategies. It makes me wary of any information that is fed through the news media and reinforces the need to understand the underlying forces at work in government.
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