White House spokesperson Tony Fratto received a series of questions about Iraq during today’s press briefing, and the deputy press secretary used an interesting phrase more than once. (Think Progress has the video)
Q: Also, how does this latest violence in Iraq and the latest uncertainty about what’s going on color the Petraeus-Crocker testimony this time around? It obviously has changed the equation. I mean, weeks ago it looked like the surge was — you know, had this pretty rosy cast, and now with all this renewed violence, I think it has changed the dynamics. So how has this changed the equation?
FRATTO: Well, I think we’ve thrown out all of the rose-colored glasses in how we look at Iraq, and try to look at it through clear lenses as to what is actually going on in the country.
And then again, a few minutes later, after a question about Iraqis protesting the American troop presence in Iraq:
Q: Do you think it takes any of the steam, though, out of what Petraeus and Crocker will be saying when you see those images juxtaposed?
FRATTO: No, I don’t think so. I mean, it’s — look, every — like I said, we threw out the rose-colored glasses. I think we have a very clear-eyed view of what’s happening in Baghdad.
Ben asked a good question: “When exactly did the White House throw away its rose-colored glasses?”
That’s a good one, and I’d just add a couple more.
For several years, when Democratic critics of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq insisted that the White House was looking at the war through rose-colored glasses, the right responded that Dems were a) wrong; b) undermining the troops; and c) emboldening terrorists. Now that the White House is willing to concede that they used to look at Iraq through rose-colored glasses, does the Bush gang think Dems were right all along?
For that matter, hearing Fratto today, I kept thinking that I’ve heard the White House use this phrase before. And then I remembered.
* Tony Snow, August 17, 2006: “[F]or those of us who have seen the President behind the scenes, he doesn’t sit around and ask for people to put on rose-colored glasses.”
* Tony Snow, September 29, 2006: “President, again, is not looking through rose-colored glasses. He insists on getting the best intelligence [on Iraq] he can from his people on the field.”
* Tony Snow, December 18, 2006: “On the other hand, we don’t want to be accused of looking through rose colored glasses at what clearly is an unacceptable position within Iraq.”
* Tony Snow, February 15, 2007: “I don’t want to be accused of putting on rose-colored glasses. It’s going to be tough [in Iraq].”
* Tony Snow, September 12, 2007: “We don’t want anybody to look through rose-colored glasses, but we would like people to understand that there has been success [in Iraq].”
Now, however, the White House wants us to believe the White House was looking at Iraq though rose-colored glasses, but they’ve since been “thrown out.”
That’s good to know, but it sounds like one White House spokesperson believes a previous White House spokesperson didn’t know what he was talking about.