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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels August 31, 2004 Wading through 237 Bush lies By Al Bodin Ashland The Special Investigations Division compiled a data base of statements about Iraq made by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and Condi Rice. All of the statements in the data base were drawn from speeches, press conferences and briefings, interviews, written statements and testimony by the five officials who made misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq. They made these statements in 125 separate appearances. The total number of misleading statements made by them - 237. Following are a pitiful few of them: o On March 19, 2003, U.S. forces began military operations in Iraq. Addressing the nation about the purpose of the war on the day the bombing began, Bush stated, "The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder." The statements began at least a year before commencement of hostilities. Cheney, March 17, 2002 "We know they have biological and chemical weapons ... there's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government." Most of the misleading statements about Iraq - 161 statements - were made prior to the start of the war. But 76 misleading statements were made by this group after the start of the war to justify the decision to go to war. o The Jan. 28, 2004 State of the Union address: "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Cheney on Sept. 8, 2002: "we do know, with absolute certainty that he is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs... to build a nuclear weapon ... we believed he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." o Oct 10, 2003, Saddam Hussein had an established relationship with Al Qaeda. Rumsfeld said, "within "a week or a month, Hussein could give his weapons of mass destruction to Al Qaeda, which could use them to attack the U.S. and kill "30,000, or 100,000 ... human beings." Powell: "There is no doubt in our minds now that those vans were designed for only one purpose, and that was to make biological weapons." o On Feb. 5, 2004, Director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet categorically stated that the U.S. intelligence community never said there was an "imminent threat" Yet, the Big Five, made 11 statements claiming that Iraq posed an urgent threat. Bush on Oct. 2, 2002: "The Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency ... It has developed weapons of mass death." Again on Nov. 20, 2002: "Today the world is uniting to answer the unique and urgent threat posed by Iraq." And Cheney: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use them against our friends, against our allies, and against us." The most egregious statement made by Cheney claimed that "we know he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons" He made this statement just three days before the war. He did not admit until Sept. 14, 2003, that his statement was wrong and that he "did misspeak." Often, these statements were misleading because they projected certainty about their claims. Powell for example, claimed, "there is no doubt in our minds that he still has chemical weapons stocks." Rumsfeld stated: "He has at this moment stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons." Cheney asserted: "We know they have biological and chemical weapons. And Bush said bluntly, "he's got them." Bush alone, made 55 misleading statements about the threat posed in 27 separate public statements or appearances. Of the 55, he claimed that Iraq posed an urgent threat; 14 exaggerated Iraq's efforts to develop nuclear weapons; 18 overstated Iraq's chemical or biological weapons capacity; and 19 misrepresented Iraq's links to al Qaeda. Quoting from "Iraq On The Record" prepared for Rep. Henry Waxman, it concludes: "Because of the gravity of the subject and the President's unique access to classified information, members of Congress and the public expect the President and his senior officials to take special care to be balanced and accurate in describing national security threats. It does not appear, however, that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell and National Security Advisor Rice met this standard in the case of Iraq." To the contrary, these five officials repeatedly made misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq. In 125 separate appearances, they made 11 misleading statements about the urgency of Iraq's threat, 81 misleading statements about Iraq's nuclear activities, 84 misleading statements about Iraq's chemical and biological capabilities, and 61 misleading statements about Iraq's relationship with the al Qaeda. With 237 misleading recorded statements, how can any rational voter distinguish when our leader is telling the truth and when he is not? DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams