NYT does a little sock-grabbing

These are the opening lines in the introduction of the latest document from that pesky British meeting in 2002:

1. The US Government's military planning for action against Iraq is proceeding apace. But, as yet, it lacks a political framework. In particular, little thought has been given to creating the political conditions for military action, or the aftermath and how to shape it.

This is how the NYT finally decides to cover the story:

A memorandum written by Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet office in late July 2002 explicitly states that the Bush administration had made "no political decisions" to invade Iraq, but that American military planning for the possibility was advanced.

Huh. So that's what fear smells like. At least they aren't trying to claim that it's a fake. I guess. And where did the Times' definitive-sounding quote come from in the document?

Although no political decisions have been taken, US military planners have drafted options for the US Government to undertake an invasion of Iraq.

Now, to me that doesn't say there was no intent by the White House to invade Iraq. It says to me that they hadn't settled upon one of the strategies offered by their military. Yet.

It also says to me that the mainstream media is more than happy to continue humping the corpse of "freedom of the press" as long as it gets them admitted to swanky Beltway parties.

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