Two interesting things happened yesterday with the Kerry campaign. Only one was important. Guess which was all over the national media today?
In March, an NBC News report explained that the Bush administration had an opportunity to strike against Abu Musab Zarqawi on multiple occasions, but chose not to. It was a devastating story, which as far as I can tell, was never refuted by anyone in the administration. Unfortunately, it was also never received any real follow-up from the rest of the press.
Yesterday, John Kerry decided to hit Bush hard on this very point and make it a central part of the campaign dialog on the war on terror.
“Before the war, the administration claimed that Zarqawi’s presence in Iraq was proof of an Al Qaeda-Saddam collaboration. That was wrong.
“In fact, Zarqawi was operating out of a no-man’s land in North Eastern Iraq… next to territory controlled by America’s Kurdish allies… not by Saddam. He and his terrorist allies were reportedly producing Ricin, a horrific biological weapon. We could have… but did not… take them out. That was a terrible mistake that this administration has never explained.”
Damn straight. It’s a move that should have generated considerable media attention. If Bush is tough on terror, the public deserves an explanation as to why he decided — three times — not to attack Zarqawi when we had the chance. It’s a question that strikes at the center of this campaign’s over-arching debate over how best to combat terrorism.
So, did Kerry’s charge generate a new round of questions about why Bush decided not to go after Zarqawi? No. Instead, they wrote several hundred stories Teresa Heinz Kerry apologizing to Laura Bush for an inadvertent comment about the First Lady’s work history.
In fact, let’s put this in quantifiable terms:
Words the Washington Post devoted to Kerry’s Zarqawi charge: 206
Words the Washington Post devoted to the THK apology “story”: 738
Words the New York Times devoted to Kerry’s Zarqawi charge: 0
Words the New York Times devoted to the THK apology “story”: 419
Words the Los Angeles Times devoted to Kerry’s Zarqawi charge: 0
Words the Los Angeles Times devoted to the THK apology “story”: 723
Mary Cheney and an unnecessary apology — huge. Terrorists and White House criminal investigations — zilch. The media has its priorities; are they yours?