Spinonymous: CNN granted Bush official anonymity to criticize Obama

Written by Brian Levy

Published

On the February 11 edition of CNN Newsroom, during a report on Australian Prime Minister John Howard's criticism of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Democrats concerning their statements on the Iraq war, CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry cited “one official,” who he said “weighed in with support for the Australian,” but CNN identified him on screen only as a “senior Bush administration official.”

Henry said the official asserted that “Prime Minister Howard knows that setting a timeline for a withdrawal sends the wrong signal to our enemies.” He did not say why the White House official required -- or deserved -- anonymity in his criticism of the Democratic presidential candidate.

From the 7 p.m. ET hour of the February 11 edition of CNN Newsroom:

HENRY: Just one day after Democrat Barack Obama launched his bid for president of the United States, a blast from down under.

HOWARD: If I were running Al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats.

HENRY: A fierce ally of President Bush, conservative Australian Prime Minister John Howard was firing away at Obama's call for pulling all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of March 2008.

The senator quickly fired back.

OBAMA: So if he's ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.

HENRY: A two-fer: A shot at the fact that about 1,000 Australian troops are in Iraq and a poke at the plan to send more U.S. troops being pushed by the president, who is tight with Howard.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Somebody said, “Don't you” -- “You and John Howard appear to be so close. Don't you have any differences?” And I said, “Yeah, he doesn't have any hair.”

HENRY: White House aides express surprise over Howard's criticism of Obama. But one official weighed in with support for the Australian, saying, “Prime Minister Howard knows that setting a timeline for a withdrawal sends the wrong signal to our enemies.”

Democrats, however, told the Aussie to butt out of the U.S. debate.

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): The most charitable thing you can say about Mr. Howard's comment is it's bizarre. You know, we'll make our own judgments in this country with respect to elections.