It was you who brought up that the administration was looking for "a vindication of their actions in principle" and that's why I responded that they are most assuredly comfortable with their course of action and have no need to justify it.
Again, as far as the "conservative media" theory, the story wasrun by the AP, CBS, Reuters, and many more "legitimate" news sources. It wasnot restricted to the "conservative media ".
http://www.boston.com/news/world/mid...n_iraq?mode=PF
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in560449.shtml
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040517/325/etshk.html