Criticism from Former White House Spokesman
Published in Sina
(China) on 2008-05-29
by Chinanews (link to original)
The memoirs of former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, which will be published next week, will disclose some inside stories, including the fact that while the United States was attacking Iraq, President George W. Bush "seriously deviated from the right track," "lacked openness and frankness" and “sacrificed the integrity of governance.” He also criticized the Bush Administration’s initially slow response when hurricane "Katrina" hit New Orleans in 2005.
According to 29th May edition of Hong Kong’s "Wen Wei Po," Scott McClellan was the White House Spokesman at the time of the Iraq War and Hurricane “Katrina”. Although he was always speaking in support of the Bush Administration as a “presidential spokes-puppy”, he is now starting to pull in two directions - publishing a book in order to criticize the White House and exposing its inside stories. One story tells that in order to obtain public support, the Administration created lies that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and colluded with terrorist groups.
"They Encouraged Me Repeatedly to Lie"
In his memoirs, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception", McClellan commented on Bush's use of "propaganda " and "lies" to sell the war in Iraq by misleading the public. He (says OR said ) that several senior officials (know OR knew) the truth, including former White House chief political adviser Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Libby. Cheney himself may also have been informed. However, they still "allowed me to, or even encouraged me to repeat a lie."
40-year-old McClellan acted as the White House press secretary from July 2003 to April 2006. As well as a Texan, he was always Bush's long-term confidant. This book reveals that the White House senior advisers did not help Bush govern well. McClellan believes that “Bush deceived me because he was deceived by his advisors". He says the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic mistake and that the war was unnecessary.
Lies Help Sell the War in Iraq and Supporting Incompetent Governance during a Natural Disaster
Talking about the "Katrina" disaster, McClellan said the White House "spent most of the time during the first week denying the disastrous situation". This was one of the most serious natural disasters in the history of the United States as well as the biggest disaster of Bush’s term. “Katrina” and the federal government's clumsy reaction probably has defined the "poor governance of Bush's second term”.
Meanwhile, Ralph and Libby and other White House senior officials were involved in the incident of the “contrived exposure” of CIA operative Plame's identity. McClellan said that those two misled him at that time, making him publish false statements. Libby was actually convicted last year.
White House: We Just Found Out He Was Full of Complaints
The Politico website says that this is the most severe criticism made by a former presidential aide, far exceeding the expectations of White House officials.
Current White House spokesman Pelino recently condemned McClellan through a statement. She said she realized that McClellan was full of complaints about the White House. And President Bush was said to have more important things to do and did not have time to comment on the book.
According to 29th May edition of Hong Kong’s "Wen Wei Po," Scott McClellan was the White House Spokesman at the time of the Iraq War and Hurricane “Katrina”. Although he was always speaking in support of the Bush Administration as a “presidential spokes-puppy”, he is now starting to pull in two directions - publishing a book in order to criticize the White House and exposing its inside stories. One story tells that in order to obtain public support, the Administration created lies that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and colluded with terrorist groups.
"They Encouraged Me Repeatedly to Lie"
In his memoirs, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception", McClellan commented on Bush's use of "propaganda " and "lies" to sell the war in Iraq by misleading the public. He (says OR said ) that several senior officials (know OR knew) the truth, including former White House chief political adviser Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Libby. Cheney himself may also have been informed. However, they still "allowed me to, or even encouraged me to repeat a lie."
40-year-old McClellan acted as the White House press secretary from July 2003 to April 2006. As well as a Texan, he was always Bush's long-term confidant. This book reveals that the White House senior advisers did not help Bush govern well. McClellan believes that “Bush deceived me because he was deceived by his advisors". He says the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic mistake and that the war was unnecessary.
Lies Help Sell the War in Iraq and Supporting Incompetent Governance during a Natural Disaster
Talking about the "Katrina" disaster, McClellan said the White House "spent most of the time during the first week denying the disastrous situation". This was one of the most serious natural disasters in the history of the United States as well as the biggest disaster of Bush’s term. “Katrina” and the federal government's clumsy reaction probably has defined the "poor governance of Bush's second term”.
Meanwhile, Ralph and Libby and other White House senior officials were involved in the incident of the “contrived exposure” of CIA operative Plame's identity. McClellan said that those two misled him at that time, making him publish false statements. Libby was actually convicted last year.
White House: We Just Found Out He Was Full of Complaints
The Politico website says that this is the most severe criticism made by a former presidential aide, far exceeding the expectations of White House officials.
Current White House spokesman Pelino recently condemned McClellan through a statement. She said she realized that McClellan was full of complaints about the White House. And President Bush was said to have more important things to do and did not have time to comment on the book.