Study: False statements preceded Iraq war

[CubanMustGo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/misinformation_study;_ylt=AoYB01HJIKROP944dDGbPb6s 0NUE

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer

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.

___

On the Net:

Center For Public Integrity: http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx
Fund For Independence in Journalism: http://www.tfij.org/

[DarkReign]

Ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

[boutons_]

No blowjobs? yawn

[101A]

"The administration lied to get us into war"

What?

I've never heard anything like that before.

What a revelation.

[JoeChalupa]

Those bastards!!!

[George Gervin's Afro]

We must be CERTAIN in our criticisms of Bush.. we must know they are 100% accurate or we are all traitors..

[JohnnyMarzetti]

I'm sure yoniwhore, xray and whotttass will make light of this.

[jochhejaam]

No blowjobs? yawn
Yep, that's what most of Americans wished for in a Commander in Chief, one who spent countless hours planning rendezvous' with a White House page, while terrorist's were spending countless hours planning how they could attack the Country he pledged to protect.

May his legacy be never forgotten.

[2centsworth]

The study is a little misleading. With the benefit of hindsight we all now know that the WMDs assertions were false. However, was it reasonable to make those assertions at the time with the intelligence we had?

[xrayzebra]

I'm sure yoniwhore, xray and whotttass will make light of this.

Now why would we do something like that? Shame on you!
We all know Clinton, et al, wouldn't make false statements,
now would they. :elephant

[DarkReign]

The study is a little misleading. With the benefit of hindsight we all now know that the WMDs assertions were false. However, was it reasonable to make those assertions at the time with the intelligence we had?

Rhetorical question?

[DarkReign]

Yep, that's what most of Americans wished for in a Commander in Chief, one who spent countless hours planning rendezvous' with a White House page, while terrorist's were spending countless hours planning how they could attack the Country he pledged to protect.

May his legacy be never forgotten.

Yeah, that lucky bastard shouldve been expanding the federal government to its record size, increasing the national debt 10 fold, starting wars in other countries under ever-changing conditions and reasons and fear-mongering the American public into actually believing that "Terrorists" actually pose some significant threat to the USA as a whole.

Blow jobs, shit I forgot....good Christians dont give head I guess.

[George Gervin's Afro]

Yep, that's what most of Americans wished for in a Commander in Chief, one who spent countless hours planning rendezvous' with a White House page, while terrorist's were spending countless hours planning how they could attack the Country he pledged to protect.

May his legacy be never forgotten.


Cool so WHEN we get hit again and all of the planning happened under GWB's watch you will be out blaming him.. nice job... :rolleyes

[DarkReign]

Cool so WHEN we get hit again and all of the planning happened under GWB's watch you will be out blaming him.. nice job... :rolleyes

...thats a fair point. IF we are hit again, according to your logic, it will be Bush Jrs fault.

Thats YOUR logic JJ, not mine for the record.

[JoeChalupa]

Intelligence? :lmao

[boutons_]

"was it reasonable to make those assertions"

To start a war, one needs more than "assertions".

We also know that dubya and dickhead cherry-picked and hyped the supporting "evidence", while suppressing/classifying what could be called equally "reasonable" counter-assertions and evidence.

Anybody who dared get in the way was destroyed: Shinsheki, Plame.

The neo-cunts wanted the Iraq oil invasion since the 1990s, and trumped up "assertions" and bullied and lied to the press and nation and UN to get the war.

[CubanMustGo]

Now why would we do something like that? Shame on you!
We all know Clinton, et al, wouldn't make false statements,
now would they. :elephant

So tell us again, how many trillions of dollars and thousands of lives were Bill's lies responsible for?

[xrayzebra]

So tell us again, how many trillions of dollars and thousands of lives were Bill's lies responsible for?

Where do you want me to start. How bout Mogadishu.
Think that would be a good place. Where OBL, said he
learned we had not guts. There are a few more places.
We could also include WTC where we lost 3000 citizens
from our and the worlds population.

[DarkReign]

Where do you want me to start. How bout Mogadishu.
Think that would be a good place. Where OBL, said he
learned we had not guts. There are a few more places.
We could also include WTC where we lost 3000 citizens
from our and the worlds population.

So are you going to blame Bush Jr when we are inevitably attacked during the next Presidency?

If not, your opinion is meaningless. 9/11 happened 3 years after Clinton left office.

[xrayzebra]

9/11 happened 3 years after Clinton left office.

You want to try 9 months.............three years.....have
another of whatever you are drinking. And pour one for
me...

[DarkReign]

You want to try 9 months.............three years.....have
another of whatever you are drinking. And pour one for
me...

hehe...whoooooops!

My bad. I was trippin.

[101A]

...

Blow jobs, shit I forgot....good Christians dont give head I guess.I'm married to one.

They do, just not so much.

:depressed

[ChumpDumper]

Yep, that's what most of Americans wished for in a Commander in Chief, one who spent countless hours planning rendezvous' with a White House page, while terrorist's were spending countless hours planning how they could attack the Country he pledged to protect.

May his legacy be never forgotten.How many weeks did Bush spend clearing brush in Crawford the summer of 01?

How many cabinet level meetings about Islamist terra did he hold before 9/11?

May his legacy never be forgotten.

[jochhejaam]

Blow jobs, shit I forgot....good Christians dont give head I guess.
Allow me to take the guesswork out of your question. A 50 year old married man getting a bj from a 23 year old girl would be considered un-Christlike.

If you had read more than 3 pages of the Bible before throwing it down, as you previously stated, you wouldn't have to guess about issues like that.

Ignorance truly is bliss, isn't it.

[inconvertible]

After Iran and Iraq went to war. Anwat Sadat said "the war for oil has begun"

2008 it is still going on.

[PEP]

When is he getting impeached?

[boutons_]

Rummy's Back!

And he's still a lying, incompetent, unpunished bastard, and wants lying to become esatablished as an official govt function

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/rummy-wants-pro.html

[Wild Cobra]

Well, I heard some of the so called lies this morning on the radio. It's the author claiming the 935 lies found who is lying. Only uneducated people, or those who are ignorant of the facts could agree with the story.

[Nbadan]

....935 lies...

4Ef3C7h52Cs

[fyatuk]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/misinformation_study;_ylt=AoYB01HJIKROP944dDGbPb6s 0NUE
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."



This is just annoying. Yes, Bush made statements that proved to be false. Prove he KNEW they were false before you start claiming he led the nation to war on "false pretenses". He led the nation to war on wrong information that most of the civilized world believed, even those who did not want to go to war. Revisionist history is grand...

[JohnnyMarzetti]

This is just annoying. Yes, Bush made statements that proved to be false. Prove he KNEW they were false before you start claiming he led the nation to war on "false pretenses". He led the nation to war on wrong information that most of the civilized world believed, even those who did not want to go to war. Revisionist history is grand...

Bush doesn't know the difference beteen his ass and the big hole in his face so he can get a pass on his false statements by idiots like you. Of course Dumbya knew he was telling a lie and he went along with Cheney's BS any how. Get real.

[boutons_]

As we saw AGAIN with the recent NIE, dubya doesn't care about "reasons" for or not for war, and again with the faking the Iranian motoboat "attacks" and the Argentina bombing "link".

His and dickhead's agenda is the oil, everything else is a charade, totally fake bullshit like the plastic sandstone on the LV Monte Carlo.

[George Gervin's Afro]

This is just annoying. Yes, Bush made statements that proved to be false. Prove he KNEW they were false before you start claiming he led the nation to war on "false pretenses". He led the nation to war on wrong information that most of the civilized world believed, even those who did not want to go to war. Revisionist history is grand...


Without rehashing the reasons for the uncessary war does he have any accountability? If it were proven that Bush or his advisors made the conscience decision to withold information that contradicted what he told he public would that be dishonest? Will you agree that you could be purposely misled but not necessarily lied to?

Don't be stupid.

[Wild Cobra]

Without rehashing the reasons for the uncessary war does he have any accountability? If it were proven that Bush or his advisors made the conscience decision to withold information that contradicted what he told he public would that be dishonest? Will you agree that you could be purposely misled but not necessarily lied to?

Don't be stupid.
I agree.

That really gets me. How do the democrats get away with it.

Hillary:

"Elect me as president. I don't know when I'm lied to..."

She may as well say that, right?

[Cant_Be_Faded]

This man is Rushmore bound.

[remingtonbo2001]

This is just annoying. Yes, Bush made statements that proved to be false. Prove he KNEW they were false before you start claiming he led the nation to war on "false pretenses". He led the nation to war on wrong information that most of the civilized world believed, even those who did not want to go to war. Revisionist history is grand...

Don't bother trying to use logic. Most who disagree with the policy of President Bush only wish to spew personal hatred , instead of providing ideas and solutions which would benefit the success of this nation.
Maybe they get a rush by being mean and personally attacking someone they disagree with. I have no idea.

[xrayzebra]

Don't bother trying to use logic. Most who disagree with the policy of President Bush only wish to spew personal hatred , instead of providing ideas and solutions which would benefit the success of this nation.
Maybe they get a rush by being mean and personally attacking someone they disagree with. I have no idea.

Naw, most of them think they are really, really intelligent.
And all their thoughts are original.
:rolleyes

[bostonguy]

So are you going to blame Bush Jr when we are inevitably attacked during the next Presidency?

If not, your opinion is meaningless. 9/11 happened 3 years after Clinton left office.

All the prevention in the world can only do so much. All it takes is someone to be strapped with bombs to walk into a building or an area that's highly populated and press a button.