Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) is calling out the media for providing discredited boosters of the 2003 invasion of Iraq a platform to push for renewed military intervention, as violence increases in the country.
In an interview on SiriusXM's "The Agenda with Ari Rabin-Havt" Tuesday morning, Dean said neoconservatives "have no idea what they're doing" and criticized Sunday talk shows for presenting political viewpoints instead of impartial analysis of what is occurring in the region.
"The problem is the Sunday talk shows are in decline, and that's because all they have are people on there who either do political posturing like Sen. [Lindsey] Graham -- who actually is very smart and knows a lot about defense, but the statements he made are clearly political and silly -- and Judith Miller, who has no credibility whatsoever, who was fired from The New York Times for essentially misleading them and all its readers," said Dean.
"I mean, if these are the kind of people who are on a network news show, I think they're entitled to their opinion," he added. "I don't think they're necessarily entitled to a national forum based on the gross mistakes of the past."
Dean's comments come as many officials who served in President George W. Bush's administration and others who heavily pushed for the 2003 invasion have re-emerged as advocates for another military intervention in Iraq, amid growing instability in the country. As The Huffington Post's Michael Calderone reported, network news shows have been booking them as guests, treating them as "credible experts."
On Monday, Paul Bremer, former envoy to Iraq and one of the chief architects of the eight-year long war in Iraq, appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and called for "some troops on the ground." He also penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal arguing that "the big error was leaving too soon."
In 2003, Bremer decided to dismantle the Iraqi military, which contributed to the years of sectarian violence that made the war so difficult.
Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was a guest on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday and asserted that al-Qaeda is "not on the road to defeat."
Wolfowitz famously predicted that the Iraq war would pay for itself with the funds generated from the country's oil revenue. In reality, the war is estimated to have cost the United States more than $2 trillion.
On Friday, Fox News invited Judith Miller, now a contributor to the network, to assess the situation. She ironically criticized the media for not perceiving the threat from ISIS, the militant group that Secretary of State John Kerry has said poses an "existential challenge" to Iraq.
Miller famously used questionable sources in falsely reporting that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, which bolstered the Bush administration's case for the war.
On Monday, President Barack Obama announced that 275 troops will be sent to Iraq to protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Listen to the audio of Dean above.
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