Well, sort of. But not really.
- Conservative U.S. anchor now skeptical about Bush
Conservative television news anchor Bill O'Reilly said Tuesday he was now skeptical about the Bush administration and apologized to viewers for supporting prewar claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
The anchor of his own show on Fox News said he was sorry he gave the U.S. government the benefit of the doubt that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's weapons program poised an imminent threat, the main reason cited for going to war.
"I was wrong. I am not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned about this," O'Reilly said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."
However, rather than facing the issue squarely, O'Reilly chose to deflect:
- While critical of President Bush, O'Reilly said he did not think the president intentionally lied. Rather, O'Reilly blamed CIA Director George Tenet, who was appointed by former President Clinton.
"I don't know why Tenet still has his job."
He added: "I think every American should be very concerned for themselves that our intelligence is not as good as it should be."
A couple of things:
-- When you proclaim to the nation that you know for certain that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction -- as did not only Bush, but also Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Ari Fleischer and Colin Powell -- and then it turns out that he didn't ... well, that's a lie.
-- The CIA, in fact, gave probably the most accurate assessments of the situation, since its career analysts warned repeatedly that the Iraqi National Congress/Laurie Mylroie exhaust the administration was breathing was bad for their brains. Instead, you had the Cheney trundling over Langley to twist the CIA's arms in order to gin up the grist for their long-planned war mill.
The real question isn't why Tenet still has a job. It's why Cheney, Rumsfeld and Douglas Feith all still have jobs.
And ultimately, why George W. Bush has one as well.
[Link via Pandagon.]
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