Anyone compiling a "WMD exaggeration/hyping" list ?

[BigBigBear]

We have the Carnegie Endowment report yesterday. We have Greg Thielmann. Anyone else I'm missing?

The lies and their subsequent unraveling are just all happening so fast, I can't keep up. The mass surrender, the bio weapons labs (Bremer/Blair contradicting each other), the mobile labs, everything.

I swear, I still see people say, "Well, Bush got bad intel, you can't blame him for that.", or, "Hey, Congress gave Bush permission to use force, tell it to them..." This is breathtaking to me - this administration cherry picked and INTENTIONALLY ignored or distorted or fabricated WMD claims, to prompt a 9/11-sensitized Congress into supporting war, and then to prompt the UN into sanctioning it. It happened at every level - it happened systemically, it happened rhetorically....To me, this is marginally treasonable, spectacularly dishonest, and an evil that will haunt this nation's reputation and credibility for generations. Perpetrated by a small man, trying to cover for his cvriminal failure to protect us between 1/20/01 and 9/10/01

I guess I'm past wondering why they're getting away with it- I just want to be sure all my links are up-to-date, and my information is comprehensive. I would like to use my meek and feeble internet footprint to work hard, in cyberspace, for change this election year.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Here's a start for you...

www.doyouknow.org

Go to the foreign policy area and you will see Cliff Note versions of the major lies. These are just some of them, mind you, but it's a good start.

I should add these are only the American lies, Tony Blair has his own special ones. Check the Telegraph and Observer for his claims of Iraqi weapons that could be launched in 45 minutes (that was his whopper).

Also, check The Nation online for an article by Corn called Bush's Other Lies -- it is a treasure trove of Bush bullshit.

[Cleita]

6. A post by Wryter. I hope s/he doesn't mind if I repost

because I forgot to get the URL.

wryter2000

May 29, 2003
What a Tangled Web We Weave . . .
. . . when first we practice to deceive!

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of
mass destruction.

Dick Cheney
Speech to VFW National Convention
August 26, 2002

Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used
for the production of biological weapons.

George W. Bush
Speech to UN General Assembly
September 12, 2002

If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is
once again misleading the world.

Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
December 2, 2002

We know for a fact that there are weapons there.

Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
January 9, 2003

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the
materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent.

George W. Bush
State of the Union Address
January 28, 2003

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass
destruction, is determined to make more.

Colin Powell
Remarks to UN Security Council
February 5, 2003

We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized
Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the
dictator tells us he does not have.

George W. Bush
Radio Address
February 8, 2003

So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons
of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? . . . I think our
judgment has to be clearly not.

Colin Powell
Remarks to UN Security Council
March 7, 2003

Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt
that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal
weapons ever devised.

George W. Bush
Address to the Nation
March 17, 2003

Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that
Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly .
. .
all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for
whatever duration it takes.

Ari Fleisher
Press Briefing
March 21, 2003

There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons
of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons
will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and
who guard them.

Gen. Tommy Franks
Press Conference
March 22, 2003

I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass
destruction.

Defense Policy Board member Kenneth Adelman
Washington Post, p. A27
March 23, 2003

One of our top objectives is to find and destroy the WMD. There are a
number of sites.

Pentagon Spokeswoman Victoria Clark
Press Briefing
March 22, 2003

We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad
and east, west, south and north somewhat.

Donald Rumsfeld
ABC Interview
March 30, 2003

Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of
massdestruction U.S. forces find -- and there will be plenty.

Neocon scholar Robert Kagan
Washington Post op-ed
April 9, 2003

I think you have always heard, and you continue to hear from officials,
ameasure of high confidence that, indeed, the weapons of mass
destruction will be found.

Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
April 10, 2003

We are learning more as we interrogate or have discussions with Iraqi
scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he
destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them.

George W. Bush
NBC Interview
April 24, 2003

There are people who in large measure have information that we need . .
. so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country.

Donald Rumsfeld
Press Briefing
April 25, 2003

We'll find them. It'll be a matter of time to do so.

George W. Bush
Remarks to Reporters
May 3, 2003

I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there
and theevidence will be forthcoming. We're just getting it just now.

Colin Powell
Remarks to Reporters
May 4, 2003

We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass
destruction in that country.

Donald Rumsfeld
Fox News Interview
May 4, 2003

I'm not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam
Hussein -- because he had a weapons program.

George W. Bush
Remarks to Reporters
May 6, 2003

U.S. officials never expected that "we were going to open garages and
find" weapons of mass destruction.

Condoleeza Rice
Reuters Interview
May 12, 2003

I just don't know whether it was all destroyed years ago -- I mean,
there's no question that there were chemical weapons years ago -- whether they
were destroyed right before the war, (or) whether they're still hidden.

Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, Commander 101st Airborne
Press Briefing
May 13, 2003

Before the war, there's no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. I expected them to be
found. I still expect them to be found.

Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Interview with Reporters
May 21, 2003

Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we're interrogating,
I'm confident that we're going to find weapons of mass destruction.

Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
NBC Today Show interview
May 26, 2003

They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.

Donald Rumsfeld
Remarks to Council on Foreign Relations
May 27, 2003

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BigBigBear]

11. Great stuff!

Let's remove Clinton from office for lying! Oh, wait a second, you guys tried that already. Is it our turn now?

Gee, you'd think if Bush had taken Clinton's statements about Iraq WMD so seriously, he would have likewise taken Clinton's warnings about Al Qaeda seriously as well, instead of vacationing summer of 2001 and cutting taxes for his campaign contributors. Oh well.

[buycitgo]

13. here's the person that should get the credit for this, I think

http://billmon.org.v.sabren.com/archives/000172.html

ending, at the time, with this

"It was a surprise to me then — it remains a surprise to me now — that we have not uncovered weapons, as you say, in some of the forward dispersal sites. Believe me, it's not for lack of trying. We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there.

Lt. Gen. James Conway, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force"

[jpak]

2. here's an excerpt from a letter I wrote to my congressman last August

In September 2002 Bush claimed that the IAEA issued a report stating Iraq was “six months away from a nuclear bomb”. This video clip was aired on FOX News and I saw it several times. The IAEA never issued any such statement. It was a lie.

In October 2002 Bush stated that Iraq possessed “unmanned aircraft that can target America”. This video clip was also aired on FOX News and I saw it several times. Iraq has never possessed any aircraft, manned or unmanned, civilian or military that could “target America”. This was a lie.

The Bush administration claimed on numerous occasions during the fall of 2002, in the State of the Union and UN addresses, and in numerous television interviews prior to the war that Iraq was illegally importing high strength aluminum tubes for use in uranium gas centrifuges. The CIA intercepted a shipment of these tubes in July of 2002 and presented them to experts at the Dept. of Energy for evaluation. The DOE unanimously concluded that these tubes were entirely unsuited for use in uranium enrichment centrifuges. The Bush administration, however, continued to use the importation of these tubes as “proof” that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. It was a lie.

In November 2002, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card stated on Meet the Press that 9/11 hijackers had met with Iraqi agents in Prague prior to the attacks. This statement was a crude attempt to link Iraq with the 9/11 attacks. This alleged meeting was investigated by US and foreign intelligence services shortly after the 9/11 attacks. All concluded that this meeting never took place. I watched this interview live. Card’s statement was a lie.

Every claim regarding Iraqi WMD made by Secretary Powell during his UN speech was dubious or an outright lie.

Powell stated that Iraq possessed UAVs with a range of 500 km. Powell went on to state that (quote) “The linkages over the past 10 years between Iraq's UAV program and biological and chemical warfare agents are of deep concern to us. Iraq could use these small UAVs which have a wingspan of only a few meters to deliver biological agents to its neighbors or if transported, to other countries, including the United States.” UN inspectors discovered and examined Iraq’s prototype UAV shortly after Powell’s address. It was held together with duct tape and aluminum foil and had a range of 5 miles. I saw video clips of this “aircraft” on FOX News, it was barely capable of controlled flight let alone a chemical or biological weapon attacks against the US or its allies. Powell’s claim was a lie.

Powell presented reconnaissance photos of Iraqi security personnel “sanitizing” a chemical weapons site prior to a UN inspection. UN inspectors found no evidence to support Powell’s claim. It was a lie.

Powell repeated the discredited claims regarding aluminum tubes and the Iraqi uranium enrichment “program”. It was a lie.

Powell presented aerial photographs of a missile test facility and claimed it was part of current Iraqi program to produce a long-range ballistic missile. UN inspectors visited this site shortly after Powell’s address. They found it abandoned and unused. This claim was a lie.

Powell claimed Iraq had a “missile brigade” armed with biological weapons hidden in palm groves near Baghdad, and that Iraq retained (quote) “a covert force of up to a few dozen Scud variant ballistic missiles.” UN inspectors had earlier accounted for, or destroyed, 817 of the 819 SCUD missiles purchased by Iraq prior to the Gulf War. Radar and other sensor data did not detect the launch of a single SCUD missile during the recent war and none have been found since. There was no use of biological weapons by Iraqi forces during the war or any evidence of a “missile brigade” armed with biological weapons deployed near Baghdad. Powell’s claims were lies.

Powell claimed that Iraq had not fully declared its biological weapons arsenal and presented evidence that Iraq possessed as much as 16,500 liters of anthrax culture and quote “they have not accounted for many of the weapons filled with these agents such as there are 400 bombs. This is evidence, not conjecture. This is true. This is all well-documented.” No such weapons were used in the war and none have been found since. Powell’s claim was a lie.

Powell claimed that Iraq had fabricated mobile biological weapons laboratories as part of an illegal weapons program. Several of these alleged labs were discovered after the war and were proclaimed as “proof” that Powell’s statement was correct. The official UK inquiry of these facilities, and a similar investigation by the State Department, however, concluded that these facilities were not mobile weapons labs but were used to produce hydrogen gas for military weather balloons. Furthermore, the UK inquiry determined that these trailers were reverse engineered from equipment sold to Iraq by the British in the 1980’s. This has not stopped the Bush administration from claiming they have found “mobile weapons labs”. These are all lies.

Powell claimed that (quote) “Iraq has rebuilt key portions of the Tariq state establishment. Tariq includes facilities designed specifically for Iraq's chemical weapons program and employs key figures from past programs. That's the production end of Saddam's chemical weapons business.” Coalition forces have thoroughly examined this site and the al-Moussaid site also identified by Powell as a chemical weapons facility. They found no evidence for a reconstituted chemical weapons program at either location. Powell’s statement was a lie.

Powell presented aerial photos of an alleged Al Qaeda (Ansar Al-Islam) “poison factory” the Kurdish controlled Northern No-Fly zone. International journalists visited this site shortly after Powell’s address. Coalition forces examined the site after the recent war. Neither group found any evidence of “poison factory”. Powell’s claim was a lie.

Powell also identified Abu Musab Zarqawi as a key link between the Iraqi government and Al Qaeda. This relationship was disputed at the time of Powell’s address. Subsequent intelligence has concluded there was no evidence to link Zarqwi with Al Qaeda. Powell’s claim was a lie.

The above were lies of commission. The Bush administration also engaged in lies of omission.

Iraq submitted a weapons declaration to the UN last December. The contained the names of two-dozen US companies that supplied Iraq with technology for its WMD programs. Upon submittal, US authorities seized the weapons declaration and released it to the UN only after the names of these companies were removed from the report. These technology transfers were authorized by the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations. The current Bush administration is hiding from the public the indefensible conduct of the Reagan and previous Bush administrations regarding US technology transfers to Iraq.

The Bush administration successfully convinced the American public that Iraq was linked to the 9/11 attacks. The administration also successfully delayed publication of the recently released 9/11 investigation that implicated Saudi Arabia – not Iraq – as the country most closely linked to Al Qaeda and the 9/11 hijackers. The administration delayed the release of this report because it would debunk its campaign of lies linking Iraq to 9/11.

[BigBigBear]

3. Outstanding

Great work, jpak. Did you ever get a reply from your Congressman?

I hadn't seen that website before, HHNF. Many thanks.

[jpak]

4. He replied (quote)

"My concern is that these weapons have found a new home. If in the hands of terrorists residing in Iran, Syria or elsewhere, these weapons are primed for circulation and continue to threaten the United States."

He went on to state that the moon is made of green cheese and babies come from the cabage patch....

gotta love it.

[BigBigBear]

7. Of course

Condi just said (today?) that there was "no evidence" those weapons went to Syria.

Don't tell me - a loyal GOPer, your congressman?

[mike_c]

5. have you seen Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the War...

...in Iraq? Awesome presentation of lie after lie after lie. What's so devastating is seeing and hearing them without the intervenening months of slow build up, and seeing how at each stage of the deception the bastards were all using the same script.

[BigBigBear]

8. I have not, Mike.

I plan to purchase it soon, though.

It'd be a coals-to-Newcastle deal for me, though.

[mike_c]

10. yeah, but you can show it to others....

Despite its preaching to the choir, it's still worth viewing. I watched it yesterday-- my SO is going to watch it tonight. You'll be glad you saw it. And besides, if you get tired of it you can always leave it in the dentist's office with a "free DVD" label on it!

[librechik]

12. Someone should go after Tucker--he was shameless today

I'll bet he's got a ton o' WMD "no doubt" quotes, along with Dem- baiting "so you crazily think there are no WMD" comments to cull.

[Cleita]

14. OMG.

The News Hour on PBS in showing all the clips where they talked about WMD's.