Intelligence Failures Do Not Excuse Outright Lies

For years I have grown frustrated with the media for allowing conservatives to spin away the lies that got us into the Iraq War by blaming them on "intelligence failures." To anyone familiar with the facts, the Bush Administration went far beyond the intelligence they had received in their attempt to create artificial links between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein and to paint a picture of absolute certainty that Saddam was developing nuclear weapons. I know this perspective was "out there" in the media several years ago (circa 2006). But in the last couple of years, as Bush Administration officials attempt to re-write history, the media constantly allows them to dismiss the lies and avoid accountability as they blame "faulty intelligence." It makes me livid that I never hear it expressed as it actually happened. But I came across that perspective on an NPR show that is now a couple weeks old. I just listened to a Talk of the Nation podcast in which David Corn of Mother Jones debates Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute on the Iraq War, seven years in (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125065169&ft=1&f=1004). David is awesome here, totally calling out this "intelligence failures" spin for what it is. Rubin of course pulls out the old spin, but seems a little taken aback that someone is actually laying it all out as it happened. Neal Conan is typical here, trying to lay out some sort of middle ground between the facts and the right-wing spin. But Corn does a good job and gets the perspective out there. It's a GREAT listen and a relief to hear it "out there." There needs to be more pressure on the media to prevent the right-wing from constantly getting away with blaming Iraq on intelligence.