Memo Vs. Press Conference
Greg Mitchell over at Editor & Publisher has a unique angle on the New York Times story that's been burning up the blogosphere today. Here's the first two grafs of the Times story, if you're as yet uninitiated:
In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war.Mitchell has reprinted excerpts from the press conference that followed the meeting, in which the two leaders stress that Saddam could disarm in order to avoid war. You can see the excerpts here.But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times.