Yesterday’s White House press briefing was largely predictable, though the press corps seemed a little feistier than usual in response to news that the U.S. is no longer even looking for WMD in Iraq.
Scott McClellan was apparently expecting the questions, but when reporters weren’t buying the spin, he pulled out his big gun. See if you can spot it.
In response to a question about the damage to American credibility after we launched a war under false pretenses, McClellan said:
“Remember, September 11th changed the equation about how we confront the threats that we face, and the President recognizes what his most important responsibility is, and that is to do everything in his power to protect the American people.
In response to a question about reliable intelligence regarding threats in countries like North Korea, McClellan said:
“We have taken a number of steps since September 11th to improve our intelligence-sharing and gathering of information.”
In response to a question about the dangers in taking preemptive military action when our intelligence is wrong, McClellan said:
“It was a very unique threat that we faced in terms of Iraq. And in a post-September 11th world, it was a threat you could not ignore.”
In response to a question about the president’s ability to adapt and change course when initial assessments prove unreliable, McClellan said:
“The reality is that the United States of America was attacked on September 11, 2001, and some 3,000 innocent civilians lost their lives…. The reality is that [Iraq] was a unique threat, and the President recognizes that September 11th changed the equation for how we confront the threats that we face.”
In response to a question about whether Bush would send Condoleezza Rice to the United Nations to make the same kind of case about a potential threat that Colin Powell made, McClellan said:
“We had the attacks on September 11th that taught us we must confront threats before it’s too late.”
In response to a question about how Bush would appeal to the United Nations to accept the quality of our intelligence, McClellan said:
“We work closely with the other nations that are committed to winning the global war on terrorism and work closely with them in intelligence matters. And we have good cooperation and sharing going on since September 11th. We’ve taken a number of steps since September 11th to improve our intelligence, and to improve our gathering of that intelligence, and our sharing of information not only here at home, but abroad, as well.”
In response to a question about whether the president believes that the quality of our intelligence has improved enough for him to act on it, McClellan said:
“[W]e’ve been able to disrupt and dismantle much of the leadership of al Qaeda, because September 11th taught us that we need to confront threats, that we need to act on intelligence that we receive.”
Maybe we could make it easier for poor Scott to exploit the terrorist attacks with greater ease. Why don’t we get together and make the White House press office a little sign that says, “September 11, 2001.” Whenever there’s a question that McClellan doesn’t like, or can’t answer, he could just point to the sign, instead of simply repeating the date over and over again.