White House asks USDA to Praise achievements in Iraq

[CalMeacham]

I couldn’t believe this was true (neither could a blogger I ranacross, who credited it to imaginations at the Times, but it goes back to Kamen’;s earlier article in the Washington Post):

Al Kamen - The USDA on Iraq: Everything's Coming Up Rosy

Career appointees at the Department of Agriculture were stunned last week to receive e-mailed instructions that include Bush administration “talking points” – saying things such as “President Bush has a clear strategy for victory in Iraq” – in every speech they give for the department.

“The President has requested that all members of his cabinet and sub-cabinet incorporate message points on the Global War on Terror into speeches, including specific examples of what each agency is doing to aid the reconstruction of Iraq,” the May 2 e-mail from USDA speechwriter Heather Vaughn began.

Can this be for real? I’m almost ceasing to be amazed at what comes out of the White House anymore

http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=20802

[CalMeacham]

It belatedly occurs to me that responses to this can get heated (if, that is, anyone ever does respond), so feel free to move this to the Pit or Gd or elsewhere.

[saoirse]

I like to think that it was sent to the USDA in error. I am also a little exhausted with Bush Outrage right now, though. After I’ve rested up from this wiretap thing, I might feel differently.

[Gaudere]

I like to think that it was sent to the USDA in error.

Nope, it’s clearly aimed at the USDA specifically. You can see the actual memo here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/KamenDocs.pdf with things like “What the USDA is doing in Iraq” and (paraphrased) “before I talk about US agriculture, let’s talk about how great Iraq agriculture is doing.”

[Squink]

@Gaudere

You can see the actual memo here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/KamenDocs.pdf

Excerpted example:

Iraq is part of the ‘fertile crescent’ of Mesopotamia.It is there, in around 8,500 BC, that mankind first domesticated wheat, there that agriculture was born. In recent years however, the birthplace of farming has been in trouble. Last November I had a chance to visit with Iraq’s Minister of Agriculture. I was impressed by his optimism even as he described the 30 years of neglect suffered by the agriculture sector…

Saving farms is good, but I’m a little disturbed by early date attributed to the domestication of wheat. Isn’t that before even darkness moved upon the face of the deep? Dudes at the USDA should at least try to get their science right.