Back in "La France et Le Suicide Diplomatique II," I said that the letter from 8 (now 11) European heads of state was a Tony Blair move, not a stroke of American diplomacy. Tony's role was important in expanding the signatories, but he wasn't the one who got the ball rolling - Greatest Jeneration has the links to the whole story.
UPDATE: In Vodkapundit's words, "whoa." Looks like Le Suicide Diplomatique is, if anything, picking up speed.
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Joe,
Using cut outs is something Dubya learned at his Daddy's knees. You know, the former President and CIA director.
The WSJ op-ed page would pay money to be a cut out for Dubya.
Jesus Christ, Trent. Tony Blair, Jose Maria Anzar, and Silvio Berlusconi are nobody's cutouts. How about Vaclav Havel?
Yes, cut out operations exist. No, that is not the story here. If WSJ wants the administration's viewpoint, they just get articles by Colin Powell or Condoleeza Rice. They wanted a European viewpoint, and both Italy and Spain had long been on record with these views. All WSJ did is suggest a platform, one that other media outlets were very happy to climb onto.
Because it was a covert operation? No, because it was NEWS. As subsequent events seem to confirm.
I find even the suggestion insulting... you're great neighbours, but damned if you Americans don't sometimes think the whole world revolves around y'all and waits patiently for your guiding hand before moving.
Thanks for the link, Joe.
I thought the story was fascinating,too and anyone who would say that the New Europe 8's statement was a "Bush cutout" obviously hasn't read either story, which was the very thing the WSJ was refuting.
Greetings,
I'm writing from Spain, it's funny I posted last week about this letter and how it came about ... and the reaction in the Spanish press. I might add, I took quite a bit of flack, people sending me emails accusing me of "disinformation" and being anti-American! Never could figure that out... Anyway, if you're interested, Aznar has a big op/ed out today (that I translated) and he'll speak to parliament in about 1 hour, which I'll post. FYI: Aznar has already said he's seen the US proof of Iraq having weapons of massive destruction.
Cheers