‘Trust Us’ Isn’t Enough

The Bush administration’s new willingness to release its Osama bin Laden videotape has come reluctantly, after one more demonstration of its inclination not to trust the public. Officials swore that the tape was incriminating and described what they had seen, but White House hesitation to let viewers decide for themselves only encouraged suspicion that the tape is not totally persuasive.

The administration fumbled from the start. Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that the administration didn’t want to give Bin Laden ‘any extra television time. . . . ‘ That’s absurd. This is not a petty political dispute about campaign ads.

Cheney’s remarks reinforced a pattern of clumsy information control. Soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer responded to critical comments with the warning that Americans “need to watch what they say.” Official transcripts of the briefing deleted Fleischer’s remark. Then Bush’s national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, called TV executives to urge they not release unedited any tapes that Bin Laden sent to the news media. The tapes might contain coded messages, she said, ignoring that such tapes could be viewed online or on television abroad. On Sept. 23, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell promised conclusive evidence that Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. Later the secretary reversed course, saying the information was classified. Last week, Marines in Afghanistan refused to let reporters interview troops wounded by a stray American bomb or those who rescued them. The Pentagon later admitted that the prohibition was wrong.

Both Republicans and Democrats pushed the administration to release the Bin Laden tape. White House officials switched to talking about the need to ensure accurate translation and to protect sources before the release. If they had talked like that from the beginning, no damage would have been done.

White House officials swear the tape clearly shows that Bin Laden had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks and that the carnage delighted him. Hearing such statements might well persuade doubters, even in the Arab world. Those with no doubt of Bin Laden’s guilt would be happy to have more evidence. The administration’s ‘just trust us’ campaign has failed. Releasing the tape puts the trust where it should be, in the public.