Misleader.org: Daily Mislead

Photo: Collage of President Bush and White House


	Get a look past the rhetoric, every day, delivered to your inbox. your email:
	Member of the press? Privacy policy


	Bush Campaign Ads . . . Brought to You by Special Interests As President Bush's $10.5 million campaign ad blitz begins, Public Citizen released a report outlining who helped pay for the campaign ads and what favors they have received during his presidency. » more


	No Child Left Behind? The Funding Gap in ESEA and Other Federal Education Programs The current reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), raises high expectations for achievement and imposes stringent measures of accountability on students, teachers, and schools. » more


	» see the ad [pdf] » research behind the ad

A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion

September 19, 2003

Bush Administration Spends Week Retracting Assertions about Saddam's Threat to the U.S.

The Bush administration this week backed away from three major rationales for going to war in Iraq last March, undermining its assertions that Hussein's Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States and its allies.

September 11th
As recently as Sunday, Vice President Cheney, claimed that on the question of Saddam Hussein's involvement in September 11th, "We just don't know."¹ But within days, both President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld each admitted there was no evidence that Hussein had any connection. On Wednesday, Bush maintained there was "no evidence" that Hussein was involved.² Two days later, Rumsfeld, said, "I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that."³

Yet in March, Hussein's possible involvement in the terrorist attacks garnered support for the war from many Americans. At the time, the widely reported meeting between 9/11 planner Mohammed Atta and Iraq's security chief in Prague a few months before the attack was found by the CIA not to be credible.⁴

'Reconstituted Nuclear Weapons Program'
Recently, Cheney backed away from the assertion he made three days before the war began, that the strongest reason for going to war was that "we believe [Hussein] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."⁵ But the International Atomic Energy Agency reported two weeks before that , "There was no indication of resumed nuclear activities."⁶ And six months later on Meet the Press, Cheney said simply, "I misspoke."⁷

Weapons of Mass Destruction
This week, Rumsfeld reversed earlier statements claiming that the U.S. knew where Iraq's weapons of destruction were located. When asked why the weapons hadn't been found, this past Tuesday Rumsfeld said, "What do you mean? You're talking about a country the size of California."⁸ Yet months ago, just two weeks into the war, Rumsfeld said, "We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."⁹

Sources:
1. Meet the Press, NBC, 9/14/03.
2. Remarks by the President After Meeting with Members of the Congressional Conference Committee on Energy Legislation, 9/17/03, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030917-7.html
3. Defense Department News Briefing, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Pace, 9/16/03, http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2003/tr20030916-secdef0682.html
4. "Bush Team Stands Firm on Iraq," Washington Post, 9/15/03, p. A1.
5. Meet the Press, NBC, 3/16/03.
6. The Status of Nuclear Inspections in Iraq: An Update, 3/7/03, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/Statements/2003/ebsp2003n006.shtml
7. Meet the Press, NBC, 9/14/03.
8. Defense Department News Briefing, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Pace, 9/16/03, http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2003/tr20030916-secdef0682.html
9. This Week with George Stephanopolous, ABC, 3/30/03.

Send the Misleader to a Friend | Print It | Misleader Archive