Thursday, Lt. General Ray Odierno gave a press briefing to reporters, via videolink from Iraq, where he twice stated that a "bit more time" was needed to judge the escalation beyond the report that General David Petraues will be delivering to Congress in September. That is the report that Republicans in Congress and the administration have used to deride any attempts at withdrawal (admittedly weak attempts from Democrats) since May and Senate Republicans and the Bully Boy repeatedly cited that report during last week's Senate Slumber Party.
The remarks by Odierno on Thursday rightly set off alarms as the administration was obviously beginning yet another push-back in their continued efforts to extend the illegal war.
The Queen of Clampdown, The New York Times, announced Saturday (A6), "White House and Military Say Iraq Report Will Be Ready in September" signaling not only that its reporters missed the point but also that they didn't speak with David S. Cloud who attended Friday's press briefing by Tony Snow, White House flack. Thom Shanker and David S. Cloud reported Saturday, "The White House and senior military officers vowed Friday that an important assessment on progress in Iraq would be delivered by the Sept. 15 deadline set by Congress, even if it takes weeks longer to compile a more complete judgment on the current troop increase. A day after the No. 2 American commander in Iraq said it would take 'at least until November' to complete a full assessment, Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said neither the White House nor military officers in Baghdad were asking for more time before reporting to Congress on progress in Iraq."
Those not following closely may have breathed a sigh of relief. However, reality check, Odierno never implied that the September report (Congressionally mandated) would not be delivered. Odierno stated on Thursday, during the press conference in question, "What I was saying is -- again, my remarks were, in 45 days I will have a better idea if the trends are continuing, and that's September. Obviously, we have an assessment we will conduct in September that will provide -- that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will provide. I was not looking at extending that time frame when they have to report back. What I imagine we'll have to do is do assessments that follow that initial assessment in September, and that's -- I'm assuming we'll continue to do assessments while we're here."
Reporters at Friday's press briefing by Snow grasped the reality of what was being stated. (One noted, "We know that he didn't ask to change the September reporting date. That isn't the point.") Shanker and Sanger didn't grasp the point.
Their Saturday nonsense implied that Odierno had stated the September report was off. (He didn't state that, he clarified he was not stating that during his briefing.) What had many up in arms was the push-back involved in, after saying "Wait until the September report!" repeatedly, the second in command in Iraq suddenly declares that the September report really won't be able to judge the success or failure and that what's needed is to wait for a November assessment. By playing dumb, Shanker and Sanger distorted not only what Odierno stated but also the meaning of it.