White House Accidentally E-Mails to Reporters

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spike

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White House Accidentally E-Mails to Reporters Story That Maliki Supports Obama Iraq Withdrawal Plan
July 19, 2008 1:29 PM

The White House this afternoon accidentally sent to its extensive distribution list a Reuters story headlined "Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine."

The story relayed how Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the German magazine Der Spiegel that "he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months … ‘U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,'" the prime minister said.

The White House employee had intended to send the article to an internal distribution list, ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports, but hit the wrong button.

The misfire comes at an odd time for Bush foreign policy, at a time when Obama's campaign alleges the president is moving closer toward Obama's recommendations about international relations -- sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, discussing a "general time horizon" for U.S. troop withdrawal and launching talks with Iran.
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http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/white-house-acc.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/19/iraq/main4275137.shtml?source=mostpop_story
 
Hit the wrong button? The wrong send button?

Everything happens for a reason ;)



By the way, it appears Reuters jumped the gun on the story:


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not back the plan of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and his comments to a German magazine on the issue were misunderstood, the government's spokesman said on Sunday.

Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that Maliki's remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080720/ts_nm/iraq_maliki_obama_dc
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It was a national news story, albeit premature, available via the news service. No big deal that it was sent to reporters who probably knew about it already, but a big deal that the news service that authored the story itself was wrong. The story was from a left wing German magazine, but the US liberal media liked the way it sounded and ran with it anyway. :shrug:



Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements that the White House made Friday after a meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President Bush.

In a statement issued Friday after a conversation between Bush and al-Maliki by closed-circuit television, the White House said that conditions in Iraq would dictate the pace of the negotiations and not "an arbitrary date for withdrawal. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/19/almaliki.obama/
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I am not sure I see the significance either. I understand that oftentimes a workplace will send out a news story such as this so that all involved will be in the know but why is it a big deal that it got forwarded to the wrong folks beyond the obvious embarrassment of the sender? Unless the white house fears that this makes it look like the white house has a preference in the media.
 
Possibly to show the WH as inept? There must be some conspiracy theory. I'm sure the OP can shed some light upon the why.
 
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