Bush now wants Petraeus and Crocker to testify privately

George Bush doesn't want the American people to know what's going on in Iraq -- he just wants his sanitized spin in the news.

Yesterday, we learned that top Bush administration officials -- not General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker -- would be writing the September report on Iraq.

Today's revelation is that, despite the law mandating a public hearing by Petraeus and Crocker, the Bush administration now wants only a private congressional briefing:

White House officials suggested to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week that Petraeus and Crocker would brief lawmakers in a closed session before the release of the report, congressional aides said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates would provide the only public testimony.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) told the White House that Bush's presentation plan was unacceptable. An aide to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said that "we are in talks with the administration and . . . Senator Levin wants an open hearing" with Petraeus.

Those positions only hardened yesterday with reports that the document would not be written by the Army general but instead would come from the White House, with input from Petraeus, Crocker and other administration officials.

No one should be surprised by this latest effort by the Bush administration to control the spin. For them, Iraq has been nothing but a public relations campaign. George Bush just cannot be honest with the American people.