Hmmm. I noted last night that the DOD Statement from Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita about Sy Hersh’s article in The New Yorker was a classic non-denial denial. The statement posted at the Pentagon website is dated May 15th, 2004.
This afternoon I got an email from TPM reader MM, pointing to parts of the statement which seemed more specific and definitive than I’d let on. I didn’t remember those parts of the statement. So I went back and read it again. And when I did I realized that the statement had changed.
Yet, it’s not listed as a new statement. It still carries the same May 15th, 2004 date, implying that the current version of the statement at the DOD website is the one that ran originally.
Specifically, the revised version adds a new first sentence and a new final sentence, both of which appear to go further in denying Hersh’s claims than did the original.
Now, I didn’t copy the original. But GlobalSecurity.org did copy it. So you can compare the original archived at their website and the new embroidered version, both carrying the same post date.
