Top Officials Issued 100s of False Statements Since 2001

 

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

Source: yahoo.news

 

WASHINGTON - A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found

that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds

of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in

the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

 

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an

orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and,

in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for

Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in

Journalism.

 

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not comment on the merits of

the study Tuesday night but reiterated the administration's position

that the world community viewed Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, as a

threat.

 

"The actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of

intelligence agencies around the world," Stanzel said.

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It

found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush

and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532

occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to

produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

 

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of

mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to

Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in

Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short,

the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of

erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that

culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."

 

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the

administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney,

national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald

H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary

Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and

Scott McClellan.

 

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass

destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study

found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about

weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

 

The center said the study was based on a database created with

public statements over the two years beginning on Sept. 11, 2001, and

information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles,

speeches and interviews.

 

"The cumulative effect of these false statements — amplified by

thousands of news stories and broadcasts — was massive, with the media

coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical

months in the run-up to war," the study concluded.

 

"Some journalists — indeed, even some entire news organizations —

have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months

was far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas

notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided

additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's

false statements about Iraq," it said.

 

politicians telling lies - hardly shocking :rolleyes:

I think we already knew this anyway, well, anyone with brain in their heads pretty much knew that Dubya and B-Liar were lying through their teeth anyway... But it's still nice to have it confirmed by an independent source......