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White House: Iraq is not Oz
Today, a day prior to President Bush’s trip to Kansas to survey tornado damage, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow made two public references to the most famous movie ever made about a Kansas tornado.
“The Wizard of Oz” comments were about the war in Iraq, not the devastating tornado that destroyed most of Greensburg, Kansas.
“Please avoid the idea that Iraq is like Oz and one day it’s going to be black and white and the next day you’re going to wake up and it’s color,” Snow said in a caution about how to measure progress in Iraq.
Moments later, “Again, don’t expect Oz. Expect a war. And you look for incremental changs that are indicators”
Within hours, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s communications operation pounced on Snow’s comments:
“White House Press Secretary Tony Snow observed today that Iraq isn’t like Oz. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration’s pursuit of fantasies like the imaginary Iraqi WMD and Saddam Hussein’s non-existent links to al-Qaeda has led Americans to the conclusion that, for our service men and women in Iraq, there is now no place like home. It’s easier to find similarities between our current predicament in Iraq and Oz than it is to find support for the White House’s rosy picture of ‘progress.’”
Team Reid then went after the Greensburg tornado/Wizard of Oz linkage.
“What’s not in Kansas anymore? The Kansas National Guard’s equipment,” the release said, echoing Kansas Gov. Jean Sibelius’ concerns about the federal government’s ability to respond to disasters.
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