White House censors critical op-ed

The unmitigated gall of this administration continues to astound me. The White House didn't like an op-ed on Iran that had to be screened through the CIA because it was written by a retired CIA officer. The CIA signed off on it as containing no classified information. The White House blocked publication under its usual state's secret criteria. That seems to be if they don't like it, you can't see it, hear it or print it.

Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration’s refusal to engage Iran.

...According to Leverett the op-ed was “all based on stuff that Secretary Powell, Secretary Rice, Deputy Secretary Armitage have talked about publicly. It’s been extensively reported in the media.” Leverett says the incident shows “just how low people like Elliot Abrams at the NSC [National Security Council] will stoop to try and limit the dissemination of arguments critical of the administration’s policy.”

The op-ed advised offering Iran full diplomatic and economic relations and a security guarantee in return for forswearing nuclear weapons. Sounds like a more reasonable solution than nuking the entire country into glass ashtrays, hoping we hit all their nuclear facilities to me. Which I suppose the White House doesn't anyone else to see it. Perhaps it would generate more public pressure for common sense at a time Our Great Decider is busily thinking about what he is going to decide to do.

What a way to run a democracy -- into the ground. If you don't like something, ignore it, delete it, ban it and prosecute anyone who dares divulge it.

The Carpetbagger has a short list of other inconvenient truths the Bush team has suppressed. Like the number of insurgent based attacks per month in Iraq, the number of terrorist incidents worldwide, which government programs work to assist the poor, factory closings, stats on federal shortchanging of state's funding and the underperformance of charter schools. That's, of course, an incomplete accounting. Just off the top of my head, I could add climate disruption and other EPA reports on environmental damage and FDA data. I'm sure you could think of more yourself.