“We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq.”

Followup to yesterday's post about the British memo on the Bush/Blair planning for war...

MSNBC's 'Countdown' did a report on the memo's revelations. Video- here.

It's certainly good that some in the media are reporting this story (why does it always have to be Keith Olbermann's job to do this, though?), but will they stick with the story? Do daily updates all week? Dig into it? Demand a statement from the President and Mr. Blair? No, they won't. It's an interesting story for the day, but it'll never get that Natalee Holloway 24-7 coverage.

Here we have further proof that the architects of this war lied to the American people and manipulated the foundation upon which the war was built, and yet it's treated with the same tone as every other story they covered today. How far have we come that this is not a super duper big deal? I suppose it's every day that the leader of the nation leads the country into a preemptive war based on a preexisting agenda, sold with lies and spin and marketing savvy, throwing thousands of lives away for a failed crusade.

I know the American people just don't care about this. But it's partly the media's job to make them care.

I'll... I'll stop now before I give myself a migraine.

As an addendum, Think Progress compares the public/private the White House made before the war-

Public statement:

Bush: “I’ve not made up our mind about military action. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully.” [3/6/03]

Private statement

“The start date for the military campaign was now penciled in for 10 March,” Mr. Manning wrote, paraphrasing the president. “This was when the bombing would begin.” [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03]

Public statement:

Bush: “We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq.” [3/8/03]

Private statement:

“The U.S. was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours,” the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. “If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.” [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03]

Public statement:

Bush: “Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken to win it.” [3/17/03]

Private statement:

“But [Bush] had to say that if we ultimately failed [to get a second U.N. resolution], military action would follow anyway.” [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03]

Stupid liberals keeping track of the contradictory things they said.

[PS- Arianna Huffington has 20 very good questions the President should answer:
20 Questions for President Bush About Iraq]