Dean: "Bush Should Declassify Mobile Lab Report"

Georgia10 on Kos:

On May 29, 2003, informing the American public that two mobile labs were discovered in Iraq, President Bush declared "We have found the weapons of mass destruction." A report in today's Washington Post reveals that at the time of the President's speech, the administration knew that the "mobile WMD labs" were nothing more than over-hyped Winnebagos.

Specifically, sources tell the Washington Post that nine expert field investigators submitted their report on May 27, 2003, with the unanimous finding that Saddam did not possess those mobile WMD labs.

Confronted with evidence of its deception (again) the White House today responded by calling out the Washington Post's "reckless reporting." When ABC's Terry Moran pressed Scott McClellan for an explanation, McClellan tore into ABC for even reporting on the Washington Post report. He even demanded an apology and an on-air correction.

Wow. You think the report hit a nerve?

It was President Bush who told us just two days ago that he declassified intelligence information because he "wanted people to see the truth and thought it made sense for people to see the truth." So I'm sure he will have no problem declassifying that 2003 field report so we can see the truth, right? Or does declassification to "set the record straight" apply solely to conspiracies to smear and discredit war critics?

Indeed, DNC Chairman Howard Dean is calling on President Bush to declassify the field report:

The onus is clearly on the President to clarify the situation surrounding this report. Was this incompetence, meaning that he did not know something that he clearly should have known, or is this instance of dishonesty where information was misused or withheld to support a political agenda

Here's to hoping Democrats rise up and join Dean's call.