A likely error by the White House
The White House this afternoon accidentally sent to its extensive distribution list a Reuters story headlined “Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan – magazine.”
The story relayed how Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the German magazine Der Spiegel that “he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months … ‘U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,'” the prime minister said.
All of which leads to overheated rhetoric at the Daily Kos as if this is a major faux pas of a panicked administration.
My take: The WH was obviously freaking out after the announcement that al-Maliki supports Obama’s plan, and of course was planning to email this around internally get some some advice from advisers and get their talking points together. This also ensures additional coverage of this issue. The Obama camp of course has already pounced on this:
But those wizards at the Huffington Post have figured out the deep conspiracy behind it all
The White House says it was an accident and the story was only intended for its “internal distribution list.” At first blush that sounds believable. After all, a story saying that the Iraqi government wants us gone certainly goes against the message Bush pushes at home about a long term presence, so it would seem to be a foolish mistake. Plus, every second term presidency is down to the “C” team in the final year because the better people have bailed.
What if it wasn’t an accident?
What if it was on purpose, a Machiavellian/Rovian method to the madness? The definitive book “Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential,” is a primer on tricks like this.
This is part of the usual cognitive dissonance on the left: Bush is clueless, except when he’s engaging in a brilliant multi-layered conspiracy. It seems Bush Derangement Syndrome is still in full flower on the Left…. leaving me wondering what they’ll do with their time and energy when Bush has left office. Maybe they can get together and reminisce about the good old days.
