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In his book, Mr McClellan calls the Iraq war a blunder. -- PHOTO: AP
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Washington - A tell-tale memoir by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan was the top story in the United States last week.
The press secretary known for loyally defending President George W. Bush on Iraq, Katrina and other issues dropped a bombshell on the White House when he revealed in print that his former boss actually misled the country.
In What Happened: Inside The Bush White House And Washington's Culture Of Deception, Mr McClellan describes the Oval Office atmosphere as 'insular, secretive and combative'.
He calls the war in Iraq a 'strategic blunder' and accuses Mr Bush of engaging in 'self-deception'.
Not surprisingly former White House aides are leading a counter-attack, but his former place of employment was apparently so stunned initially that it could only manage to respond by saying that Mr McClellan must be 'disgruntled'.
That prompted the author to emerge from the shadows for TV channel and newspaper interviews.
Mr McClellan told ABC News that his 'change of heart' about Mr Bush 'came after only a lot of soul-searching and truth-seeking'.
'This was a presidency that veered badly off course. It was something that all of us would have preferred didn't happen.'
Asked about his 'loyalty' to Mr Bush, the former aide said: 'No one questioned my loyalty to the President when I was there,' but now 'it's a higher loyalty. It's a loyalty to the truth. It's a loyalty to the values I was raised upon.'
Mr McClellan's book was to have gone on sale tomorrow, but some bookstores began selling advance copies as early as last Tuesday, which prompted the publisher to lift the embargo on Wednesday.
By Friday, the book was No.1 on Internet retailer Amazon.com.
The publisher, PublicAffairs, said printing had been doubled from 65,000 to 130,000.
The allegations of deceit have been a surprise not only for Mr Bush loyalists but also for publishers who turned down what is now the industry's hottest release.
Mr McClellan's accusations have been met by counter-accusations that he is cashing in on his White House access.
Criticism has even come from liberals such as commentator Arianna Huffington.
'It's George Tenet deja vu all over again,' Ms Huffington wrote in her online blog (www.huffingtonpost.com), referring to the former CIA director who received a seven-figure deal for his memoirs.
'How many times are we going to have a key Bush administration official try to wash the blood off his hands - and add a chunk of change to his bank account - by writing a come-clean book years after the fact...?'
But Mr McClellan's book does not fit the pattern of Washington mega-deals.
According to an official with knowledge of the contract - who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the confidentiality of the pact - Mr McClellan received only US$75,000 (S$100,000) for it from PublicAffairs, which specialises in dry, rarely sensational policy books by the likes of billionaire George Soros and Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus.
Rival publishers say they had no sense that Mr McClellan, 40, would make such explosive observations.
Meanwhile, current White House spokesman Dana Perino said last Friday that Mr Bush himself had not read the book.
However, the Salt Lake Tribune said that Mr Bush told an audience at a closed-door Republican fundraiser in the city that he was disappointed but would work to forgive Mr McClellan.
Mr Bush said Mr McClellan is 'not the same guy' he knew for many years, said the newspaper.
AP, NYT, AFP, Los Angeles Times
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