Plunging into a Lie

As William Kristol noted last night, the Kerry campaign has plunged headlong into the set-up of the President by the NYT, CBS News, and the IAEA. Call it a collusion of interests.

"[T]he Kerry campaign admits that the information that is the basis of Senator Kerry's statements and his campaign advertisement may not even be true. Pressed on Tuesday afternoon about the accuracy of the allegations on Fox's Big Story with John Gibson, Richard Holbrooke, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign, said: 'You don't know the truth and I don't know the truth." He later underscored this point: "I don't know the truth.'

"That minor issue hasn't kept the Kerry campaign from creating a television ad based on what may well be untruthful claims."

And: "It also now turns out that CBS 60 Minutes was planning to echo the New York Times story two days before Election Day. So what we have is an attempt by the New York Times, CBS, and a U.N. agency to work together to promote a very likely false story to damage President Bush's reelection prospects. Perhaps no one should be surprised that the liberal media and the United Nations are willing to go to quite extraordinary lengths to promote Kerry's prospects against Bush, but their behavior is not the issue. The issue is Kerry's willingness to advance allegations that his own campaign acknowledges may not be true."

INDC Journal takes a close look at the story and includes many links. You'll find other excellent examinations of the story at The Truth Laid Bear and by Wretchard of Belmont Club.