Trust in Washington in short supply
Lack of transparency by Biden on Syria, Ukraine called out
WASHINGTON — When President Biden’s administration was asked for evidence to back up dramatic claims about national security developments this past week, it demurred with a simple rejoinder: You’ll have to trust us on that.
They would not reveal what led them to say they knew that Russia was plotting a false flag operation as a pretext to invade Ukraine. They would not explain their confidence that civilian casualties were caused by a suicide bombing rather than U.S. special forces during a raid in Syria.
The administration’s response took a particularly caustic turn as spokespeople suggested that reporters were buying into foreign propaganda by even asking such questions.
The lack of transparency strained already depleted reserves of credibility in Washington, a critical resource diminished over the decades by instances of lies, falsehoods and mistakes on everything from extramarital affairs to the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The exchanges were also a sign of increased skepticism of the Biden administration when it comes to intelligence and military matters, particularly after officials failed to anticipate how swiftly the Afghan government would fall to the Taliban last year and initially defended a U.S. missile attack in Kabul as a “righteous strike” before the Pentagon confirmed the action had killed several civilians but no terrorists.
“This administration has made statements in the past that have not proven accurate,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “The press is doing its job when it asks, ‘How do you know that?’ ”
The latest scrutiny seemed to have struck a nerve, resulting in barbed interactions with White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price.
On Thursday aboard Air Force One, Psaki fielded questions about the U.S. special forces raid in Syria, which resulted in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
U.S. officials said al-Qurayshi killed himself and his family with a suicide bomb, but NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe said there “may be people that are skeptical of the events that took place and what happened to the civilians.”
Psaki asked whether the reporter was suggesting that “ISIS is providing accurate information” as opposed to the U.S. military.
“I mean, the U.S. has not always been straightforward about what happens with civilians,” Rascoe responded.
Asked about her comments, Psaki said Friday that “we welcome tough questions and good faith scrutiny.”
Price sparred with a reporter at a State Department briefing on Thursday after U.S. officials said Russia was preparing a “false flag” operation for an invasion of Ukraine. The alleged scheme included a staged explosion and enlisting actors to portray people mourning the dead.
“Where is the declassified information?” asked Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.
“I just delivered it,” Price said.
“No, you made a series of allegations,” Lee responded.
Price said U.S. officials needed to protect “sources and methods.” After a contentious back and forth, Price said that if reporters want to “find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.” He later walked back his comments.
Richard Stengel, a former editor of Time magazine and onetime senior State Department official, said the government frequently has to make difficult decisions about balancing sensitive information and the need to be transparent.
“There’s a cost-benefit analysis,” he said. “That’s the judgment they’re making every day.”
But there are long-percolating concerns that the scales have tipped too far toward secrecy. Even Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said the government classifies too much information.
In a Jan. 5 letter to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Haines said that “deficiencies in the current classification system undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives, by impeding our ability to share information in a timely manner.”
Politicians have routinely promised to restore trust in Washington, but it remains scarce ever since the Vietnam War and Watergate.
Scandals have tarnished subsequent administrations, from secretly funding the Contras in Nicaragua by selling weapons to Iran under President Ronald Reagan to President Bill Clinton covering up an affair with a White House intern.
After the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush claimed the U.S. needed to invade Iraq to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, but no such weapons were found.
President Donald Trump routinely misrepresented basic facts about his administration throughout his term.
According to a CNN/ SSRS poll conducted in December, only 34% of Americans said Biden “is a leader you can trust.”