Like most people who buy newspapers as a source of information rather than merely a cheap way to wrap fish, I have spent the last day admiring the bravado with which the Bush administration and its fans manage to deny that this week’s NIE brought some good news on Iran. Even Iran’s online propagandists seem in awe of “Neocon Kingpin” Norman Podhoretz’s denunciation of the entire NIE as a “scam” by anti-Bush spooks.
In comparison, the British approach to denial in foreign policy seems, well, a bit dull. The announcement that Gordon Brown may not attend next week’s signing ceremony for the new EU Reform Treaty because of a “diary clash” isn’t just unconvincing, it’s so dreary that it doesn’t even qualify as spin…
