Washington Post Editorial Board Skewers “Fair Game” Film

by Nisha Chittal | 12:24 pm, December 5th, 2010

» 10 comments

“We’re not in the habit of writing movie reviews,” begins the lede of this Washington Post editorial, and then proceeds to skewer “Fair Game,” the controversial film about former CIA Agent Valerie Plame — which the editorial dismisses as “Hollywood myth-making.” The Post uses several examples of its own reporting during the course of the Iraq war to dismantle some of the claims made by the film.

In fact, “Fair Game,” based on books by Mr. Wilson and his wife, is full of distortions – not to mention outright inventions. To start with the most sensational: The movie portrays Ms. Plame as having cultivated a group of Iraqi scientists and arranged for them to leave the country, and it suggests that once her cover was blown, the operation was aborted and the scientists were abandoned. This is simply false. In reality, as The Post’s Walter Pincus and Richard Leiby reported, Ms. Plame did not work directly on the program, and it was not shut down because of her identification.

…Hollywood has a habit of making movies about historical events without regard for the truth; “Fair Game” is just one more example. But the film’s reception illustrates a more troubling trend of political debates in Washington in which established facts are willfully ignored. Mr. Wilson claimed that he had proved that Mr. Bush deliberately twisted the truth about Iraq, and he was eagerly embraced by those who insist the former president lied the country into a war. Though it was long ago established that Mr. Wilson himself was not telling the truth – not about his mission to Niger and not about his wife – the myth endures. We’ll join the former president in hoping that future historians get it right.

Read the full editorial here.

fair game, Iraq War, Valerie Plame, Washington Post, washington post editorial

Big Eddie

Even the WP( and the NYT long ago ) recognizes the Plame/Wilson lies , and yet there are still liberals who will cite the distortions as fact . Richard Armitage should step forward and tell what he knows .
CarmanK

The Washinhgton Post with all its indignation participated and facilitated in one of its columnist’s act of treason. When Robert Novak “outed” Valerie Plame, he revealed the identity of a covert CIA agent. Her work was important and relevant enough, that when she wrote her book, her story, the CIA spent a whole lot of time didacting what she had to say. So, the Washington Post, the Bushies can lie and continue the great deception because they have the DC headlines and FOX to cover their tracks. But they committed treason and no Hollywood film, could ever possibly offend the national security greater than that single act.
WHarropson

How bad could it be If Chris Matthews is getting a thrill about it?

http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2010/20101110052107.aspx
Jim R

The Washington Post should recuse themselves from any Iraq reporting and especially Iraq War cheerleaders like their entire editorial page staff, who catapulted the propaganda with a vengeance.

The smearing of yet another who made the mistake of being right about Iraq continues.

P.S. Even if Armitage outed Plame before Novak and others, Novak isn’t absolved. Armitage can’t declassify unilaterally; so they’re all co-conspirators working at the direct behest of yet another criminal Republican administration willing to violate any and all laws to accomplish their laughably transparent self-serving agenda.

Just like it’s always been – each successive Republican administration “out-criminals” the previous one.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Alfred-J-Lemire/100000045361210 Alfred J. Lemire

If Carmank is worried about an offense against national security, how about The New York Times’s Bill Keller and others at that vile newspaper, who revealed the ways our government tracked Al A Qaeda funding and financial activity? And what of the newspaper’s running secret diplomatic messages? Yes, they are on some Web site, and yes, newspapers in other countries are dipping into the messages. But assume that Garno N and Chera Z are shooting babies in the brain. Does that mean it’s OK for someone else to do the same? The “treason” charge against Robert Novak is phony, if one assumes it’s spurred by some sensation that mentioning Valerie Plame’s name somehow aided some other nation or some conscious effort to betray this nation.

The editorial points to factual errors and falsifications in the film. CarmanK does not like that, thus the claim that the editorial lies. Contrast the editorial’s assessment with the gushing review of the Associated Press’s Christy Lemire that accepts the film’s propaganda message uncritically. One suspects that the Post’s editorial board realizes that people who credulously accept falsehoods because of their political enthusiasms blind them to truth risk being disbelieved when they assert truths. Rank CarmanK among the credulous.
Nahu Tuk

the WaPo and NY Slimes aren’t the newspapers they once were but they’re great for wrapping fish.
Nachi

Novak credibility??? He was one of the nastiest low-life “journalists” in modern history. A constantly vicious, bitter chunk of Republican filth. Joining the Catholic Chirch at the last moment – looking for some cheap form of redemption. No, Robert, there IS no redemption for wasted souls such as yours, BushDrunk’s, and the Gang. The hell re the film. The truth & facts & history re this young lady are out there for all to comprehend. And the truth does not lie.
Pablo

Big Eddie said:
Even the WP( and the NYT long ago ) recognizes the Plame/Wilson lies , and yet there are still liberals who will cite the distortions as fact . Richard Armitage should step forward and tell what he knows .

Would it matter if he did? The freaking audio of Woodward interviewing him has been available for years and yet you’ll still find nearly every progg you come across swearing that the White House did it…including the Plame Wilsons.
Pablo

CarmanK said:
When Robert Novak “outed” Valerie Plame, he revealed the identity of a covert CIA agent.

So what do we make of the CIA Public Affairs office confirming to Novak that Plame was an agency employee? She was not covert. If she was, the CIA wouldn’t confirm her employment to a reporter.
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