The article noted that the memorandum had been sent to “a group of former military commanders and civilian analysts,” offering “a direct challenge to the criticisms made by retired generals about Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.”

But much of the article’s focus was fixed on the political drama swirling around Rumsfeld’s fight to retain his job amid a growing firestorm of criticism.

In fact, Defense Department officials at the time, such as then-press secretary Eric Ruff, rushed to spike any notion that the Pentagon had fed military analysts talking points. The idea that there might be an elaborate, systematic Pentagon talking points operation involving the retired generals was never specifically raised in the article.

Ruff told the Times the memo was simply a “fact sheet” and that, as the Times paraphrased Ruff saying, “In no way was it meant to enlist retired officers to speak out on behalf of Rumsfeld.”

Mazzetti and Rutenberg reported: “One retired general who regularly attends the Pentagon meetings said Saturday that he found it unusual for the Pentagon to send such a memorandum in the middle of a heated debate, because it was almost certain to appear politically motivated.”

This account also suggested to readers that supplying Pentagon-approved talking points for the retired generals to disseminate on the airwaves would have been out of the ordinary when, in fact, records would later show that’s exactly what was happening.

Records would also eventually reveal Pentagon officials working behind-the-scenes to stamp out this fire before it had time to spread and to ensure that it could be contained.

In an email (p. 117) the day after the Times article was published, Dallas Lawrence, then director of the community relations office, warned a colleague (whose name is redacted) that “this is very very sensitive now. I need you to be protected. This email directly contradicts something Larry [Di Rita] said to a reporter, you’d have no way of knowing that unless you checked with me.”

When the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General issued the May memorandum invalidating the Bush Pentagon’s investigation of the military analyst program, it also noted that no further probe would occur because the program “has been terminated and responsible senior officials are no longer employed by the Department.”

Yet Raw Story’s months-long investigation has revealed that some “responsible senior officials,” including Whitman, are still employed by the Defense Department and that the retired military analyst program may not have been terminated.