Graydon Carter: Neo-Conservative Architects Of Iraq War Angry With Vanity Fair ‘Not The Worst Possible Thing’

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, appearing on CNN’s Reliable Sources to promote the Spy anthology with Kurt Andersen, addressed the controversy over Vanity Fair‘s publication of neo-conservative criticism of the war before the election:

KURTZ: Graydon Carter, I do want to ask you about one controversy that “Vanity Fair” was involved in. Just days before the election, you put on-line a piece about prominent neo-conservatives who were criticizing President Bush and the conduct of the Iraq war. Some of them did not like the way that came out. Let me read to you a couple of comments and get your reaction.

David Frum says “‘Vanity Fair’ added words outside the quote marks to change the plain meaning of quotations. The editors and publicists at ‘Vanity Fair’ have repackaged truths that a war-fighting county needs to hear into lies attempting to achieve a shabby partisan purpose.”

And Richard Perle says, “I had been promised that my remarks would not be published before the election. I should have known better than to trust the editors at ‘Vanity Fair,’ who lied to me.”

What do you make of those reactions?

CARTER: Well, I think having the neo-conservatives who helped plan the war and support the war, be angry with the magazine is not the worst possible thing. David Frum’s comments are completely incorrect. They were interviewed for the story, the story appears in the next issue of the magazine and we released it before the elections on VanityFair.com because we felt that, given the fact the president was using the war as a line in the sand for voters, and here you have the architects of the war saying it was a horrible mistake and completely bungled, we thought that was the public’s right to know.

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