PROPAGANDA WATCH

Antiwar.com: PROOF! (of spin)
Big Story: Neocons Leak Neocon Memo, Then Report On It

Today, Fox News anchors are repeatedly mentioning the blockbuster story "proving" a long-time link between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

The leak was made to a truly unbiased source, the Weekly Standard. The neocon magazine titles the article on the "leaked" memo, "Case Closed

The memo is from another unbiased source: Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith, one of the most hard-core neoconservatives at the Pentagon.

At one point, a Fox reporter referred to the Weekly Standard as having "close ties to the White House." You would think that they might mention that Fox and the Weekly Standard are both owned by Rupert Murdoch. Current and retired intel officers have identified the work of Feith's Office of Special Plans as a key component of the exaggerated and manipulated intelligence produced on Iraq. Feith himself has been accused of being behind previous leaks of "raw intelligence."

I wonder who "leaked" this memo to the Weekly Standard?

DOD: DoD Statement on News Reports of Al Qaeda and Iraq Connections
News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate.

A letter was sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Oct. 27, 2003, from Douglas J. Feith, under secretary of defense for policy, in response to follow-up questions from his July 10 testimony. One of the questions posed by the committee asked the department to provide the reports from the intelligence community to which he referred in his testimony before the committee. These reports dealt with the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda