Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel who has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War College and Naval War College, had a good item in Salon yesterday, which included an interesting observation.
The White House Web site also reflects the strategy of withholding information. It used to actively provide content on Operation Iraqi Freedom (or as the Web site now says, “Renewal in Iraq”), but the last new entry is dated Aug. 5.
Sure enough, I checked the White House’s Iraq page, and Gardiner’s right. The White House used to release statements and updates all the time. In September 2003, for example, it issued five releases — better than one a week — about a variety of Iraq-related news. This month, in contrast, there’s been one item: Bush’s not-terribly-well-received speech at the United Nations.
And even that update was the first item added to the list since August 5th. In other words, after issuing regular updates for a year-and-a-half, the White House has suddenly become shy in making Iraq-related announcements. They went almost seven weeks without saying a word about what’s going on in the country.
Gardiner argued this is because Bush is “withholding information” from the public. I think that’s sort of true, but sidestepping the more important point: the White House has stopped issuing updates about positive developments in Iraq because there aren’t any positive developments to talk about. It’s not as if the White House is going to advertise the fact that the military just ceded another city to insurgents and/or make note of the fact that American casualties keep getting worse.
This is evident on other parts of the White House website as well. On Jan. 12, 2004, Bush staffers started issuing a regular “Iraq Fact of the Day” updates. Most of them were inconsequential, but intended to convey a sense of progress. A new post office, Iraqis at the Olympics, new banks opening, etc.
So, every weekday, the White House would issue another Iraq fact…until June 29, the day after the so-called “hand-off.” Since then, nothing.
There are still plenty of “facts” for the White House to mention, but the usually confident presidential staff apparently has become introverted.
I can’t imagine why.