Gee, whoda thunk?

There are things that you suspect but can't prove - and it's always so pleasant when you get confirmation. Josh Marshall linked to a Washington Post article for Wednesday which tells us that

details have emerged showing the U.S. government and a representative of President Bush's reelection campaign had been heavily involved in drafting the speech given to Congress last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. ...

[A]dministration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the prime minister was coached and aided by the U.S. government, its allies and friends of the administration. Among them was Dan Senor, former spokesman for the CPA who has more recently represented the Bush campaign in media appearances. ...

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and British Foreign Service officials also helped Allawi with the text and delivery of his remarks, said administration officials who were involved. The State Department and officials elsewhere in the government took the lead in booking Allawi's interviews.

This is apparently directly connected to an attempt by the Bushites to overcome "negative perceptions of the Iraq war." "Good news" is to be actively promoted, reality is to be hidden.

The Pentagon ... is sponsoring a group of Iraqi Americans and former officials from the Coalition Provisional Authority to speak at military bases throughout the United States starting Friday to provide "a first-hand account" of events in Iraq. ...

The memo says the presentations are "designed to be uplifting accounts with good news messages." Rumsfeld's office, which will pay for the tour, recommends that the installations seek local news coverage, noting that "these events and presentations are positive public relations opportunities." ...

At the White House, National Security Council spokesman Jim Wilkinson said the Iraqi Americans have "a legitimate perspective, and that perspective should be heard."

So does this mean that the office of the Secretary of Defense routinely sponsors speaking tours for anyone who has "a legitimate perspective?" Or are we to assume that the DOD considers everyone else to have an illegitimate perspective?

As for reality, on Sunday the Post published a front-page story about reports by USAID contractor Kroll Security International showing that the number of daily attacks by insurgents in Iraq has increased. The next day,

a USAID official sent an e-mail to congressional aides stating: "This is the last Kroll report to come in. After the WPost story, they shut it down in order to regroup. I'll let you know when it restarts."

Asked about the Kroll reports yesterday, USAID spokesman Jeffrey Grieco said, "The agency has restricted its circulation to those contractors and grantees who continue to work in Iraq." He said that the reports were given to congressional officials who sought them, but that the information will now be "restricted to those who need it for security planning in Iraq." An agency official said the decision was unrelated to the Post story and was based on a fear that the reports "would fall into insurgents' hands."

Uh-huh. Like the insurgents don't know what's going on. And that "contractors and grantees" in Iraq will keep the info out of insurgents' hands but congressional offices will, I suppose, ship it right off. What a pathetic joke. It's like they are becoming so brazen in their lies that they don't even bother to come up with good ones anymore.

Who else here is old enough to remember the "secret bombing" of Cambodia during Vietnam? Remember how when it got out people, being prepared to assume the Cambodians knew they were being bombed, asked "secret from who?" So, really, here and now, into just whose hands are these cretins really afraid this information will fall?