CNN and Bush's Irrelevant Message

"The same people that attacked us on September 11th is the crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims, trying to stop the advance of a system based on liberty" said George W. Bush, fabulously stretching the truth.

Update July 25: The president has declassified some intelligence to bolster the above claim. But the old information he provided is irrelevant to the present situation in Iraq:

CNN's Michael Ware, who is based in Baghdad, said the fact that al Qaeda in Iraq is part of the broader terror network has never been in question. He called Bush's speech "an ancient history lesson."

In the past, I have criticized CNN for giving its stories headlines that serve to reinforce Bush Administration spin (I call this "Propaganda Headline Syndrome"). But this particular story caught my attention because the link-headline -- Bush Accused of Simplifying Threats in Iraq -- shows that someone at CNN has finally declined to give a CNN story the usual Propaganda Headline. But it's too early to celebrate.

If you click on the link, you will discover that the actual story-headline is -- as usual -- a Propaganda Headline: Bush defends Iraq war, details threat from al Qaeda. As I have noted before, this kind of headline serves to reinforce Bush Admin spin in the minds of readers: Bush spin-doctors count on the US media to give White House rebuttals headlines that regurgitate the tortured logic of the Bush Administration. For example, they still try to link the Iraq war to the 9/11 attacks.

It's good to to see a CNN webmaster has declined to serve the Bush Administration as a propagandist. If only CNN editors would wake up to the fact they allow themselves to be used.