Downing Street - Blair's "Rebuttal"

So... what do you call it when someone tries to claim a document "distorts the facts" by explaining that they did exactly what the document said they were planning to do?

This, apparently, is how Blair is trying to explain away the Downing Street Memos, the same documents that he had no problem with at the time they were written, nor at the press conference he held with Bush only last month.

How bizarre. That's almost worthy of the level of arrogant idiocy and spin-speak we see coming out of the White House these days.

Here's the take on it from Shakespeare's Sister:

The big story tonight is an AP wire report “Blair: Downing Street Memos Distort Facts.”

It’s running everywhere; funny enough, it seems to be showing up in papers across the country that haven’t really covered the DSMs much at all, but suddenly Blair makes an attempt at discrediting them and it’s newsworthy. You can Google it to find a slew of papers running it, and here’s one link: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/12017296.htm

Anyway, he’s basically invoking the Cheney defense (http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2005/06/what-dick.html):

"I am a bit astonished at how this has received such coverage in the U.S. because the fact is, after the memo was done, we went to the United Nations," Blair said.

The problem with that, of course, is that the originally leaked memo states:

The NSC had no patience with the UN route…

The Prime Minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors…

The Foreign Secretary would send the Prime Minister the background on the UN inspectors, and discreetly work up the ultimatum to Saddam.

So his big attempt at discrediting the Memos is to say that because they did exactly what the Memos suggest they considered doing in order to make the war more politically palatable, somehow the Memos distort the facts. I guess trying to give people whiplash is their best option at this point...