WaPo Sponsors Pentagon's War Rally

The Washington Post has stepped into a big fat conflict of interest by deciding to sponsor the Pentagon's upcoming 9/11 war party.

Ostensibly a tribute to 9/11 victims and veterans, the America Supports You Freedom Walk has less to do with honoring sacrifice than it does with the Defense Department's increasingly desperate attempts to manufacture a connection between 9/11 and the Iraq War. Why else would it culminate on the National Mall with a performance by haggard country crooner Clint Black of "Iraq and Roll" renown?

Post spokesman Eric Grant disingenuously suggests the paper had no idea the Pentagon might try to use this event to promote the war. "The walk was never presented to us as a rally to support the war and we would be very disappointed if it took that approach," Grant said.

One quick peek at the official Freedom Walk Web site is all it takes to reveal the Post's explanation is a mile-wide river of happy horseshit. This is clearly a rally in favor of the war and no so-called "objective" news organization has any business underwriting it.

UPDATE: Newspaper Guild leaders at The Washington Post unanimously passed a resolution today calling on the paper to withdraw its support of the Freedom Walk. "The Guild supports the Post's stated intention of honoring the nation's veterans, including those who have served in Iraq," the resolution states. "But the Post undermines this goal by lending its support to a political event that links the September 11, 2001 attacks to the war in Iraq - a link that the Post, in its reporting, has shown to be false."