The Woodward Assumption In his new book titled "State of Denial," Bob Woodward (star scandalmonger at the Washington Post) alleges that President Bush did not tell the public or the Congress everything he knew about what he calls the deteriorating Iraq situation that was leading to a civil war. One problem with Woodward's charge of malfeasance is the same problem you see with anyone who makes an allegation, especially the ones who are being highly paid to make allegations. You must either choose to trust the accusor or trust the one being accused; in this case you must either trust Bob Woodward's words and sources more than you trust the man you elected to be President. You decide! Another problem with Woodward's charges is there seems to be a lot of 'assuming' going on. What Woodward assumes is a "deteriorating situation" may, through the eyes of an experienced Middle-East analyst, be a normal series of events occurring as predicted -- no 'red flag,' no reason to call in Congressional leaders. What Woodward sees as an eminent civil war may be, through those experienced eyes, an expected escalation of violence that is being 'handled' as well as it can be; again no 'red flag.' A sitting President does not make decisions in a vacuum, he has intelligence estimates and a powerful set of advisors. What does Bob Woodward have besides some no doubt anonymous sources and . . . oh yes . . . and a book contract. The proof of how Bob Woodward sees the world of Washington is there in his Washington Post article today; in an incredible display of naivete he makes this makes this statement:

"There was a vast difference between what the White House and Pentagon knew about the situation in Iraq and what they were saying publicly."

By golly! I sure hope so! If I sound like I'm being an apologist for President Bush . . . I'm far from that, but neither am I an advocate of taking away the power of the president (be he Republican or Democrat) to make decisions on Natonal Security issues and I sincerely feel that you can be sure that if there was something that the Congress or the general public really needed to know, they would have known it. Opinion by: Whymrhymer