The Administration's Most Recent Hypocrisy

by Fortney Hillman Stark

               THE ADMINISTRATION'S MOST RECENT HYPOCRISY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of California

                    in the House of Representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 2005

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, the pot is calling the kettle black. The
Administration is chastising Newsweek magazine for a story containing a
fact that turned out to be false. This is the same Administration that
lied to the Congress, the United Nations and the American people by
fabricating reasons to send us to war. The same Administration
responsible for the death of over 1,500 American servicemen and women
and countless Iraqi civilians; the same Administration which shields
its highest officials from responsibility for prisoner abuse at Abu
Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
  Under those circumstances, how can the Bush Administration, with a
straight face, denounce a journalist for not checking all the facts
before going public with a story?
  Of course, Newsweek should have checked the facts more diligently
before publishing their article. They made a big mistake. But, Mr.
Speaker, we must keep this incident in perspective. Newsweek did make a
mistake, but they had the dignity and honor to own up to it.
  Unfortunately, I doubt the Bush Administration is capable of
displaying such honesty. Instead, the Bush Administration focuses on
public relations tactics to divert attention from their own
incompetence and fabrications rather than focusing their energies on
creating a plan to get our troops out of Iraq.
  The hypocrisy of this Administration is astonishing and this most
recent episode is, unfortunately, merely one example of many. Just
yesterday Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said in reference to the
Newsweek article, ``People lost their lives. People are dead. People
need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be
very careful about what they do. ``I couldn't agree more. People should
be very careful about what they say and do; President Bush and his
Cabinet, most of all.
  Mr. Speaker, accountability and power cannot be separated. If the
President accepts the duties and responsibilities of his office he must
do exactly what he is asking Newsweek to do: he needs to tell Americans
the truth about his own indiscretions in this tragic war.