http://www.house.gov/reform/min/feat...on_the_record/


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, President 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.”

One year later, many doubts have been raised regarding the Administration’s assertions about the threat posed by Iraq. Prior to the war in Iraq, the President and his advisors repeatedly claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that jeopardized the security of the United States. The failure to discover these weapons after the war has led to questions about whether the President and his advisors were candid in describing Iraq’s threat.

The Iraq on the Record Report, prepared at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, is a comprehensive examination of the statements made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on Iraq: President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

This database identifies 237 specific misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq made by these five officials in 125 public appearances in the time leading up to and after the commencement of hostilities in Iraq. The search options on the left can be used to find statements by any combination of speaker, subject, keyword, or date.
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Appears as if somebody's going to hold this administration accountable for its lies, at least.

The database does not include statements that appear mistaken only in hindsight. If a statement was an accurate reflection of U.S. intelligence at the time it was made, the statement is excluded from the database even if it now appears erroneous.

To determine whether a statement was misleading, the Special Investigations Division examined the statement in light of intelligence known to the Administration at the time of the statement. The primary sources for determining the intelligence available to the Administration were (1) the portions of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that have been released to the public, (2) the February 5, 2004, statement by Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet entitled Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction, ( the recent report of the nonpartisan Carnegie Endowment for International Peace entitled WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications, and (4) news and other reports quoting U.S. officials regarding the intelligence available to the Administration on Iraq.

In general, hypothetical and implied statements about threats posed by Iraq were not included in the database of misleading statements. A few such statements were included, however, where they implied a threat in evocative and frightening language. These statements were misleading because the effect was to instill in the public the perception that the threat actually existed.

President George W. Bush on Urgent Threat:

"The history, the logic, and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger. To suggest otherwise is to hope against the evidence. To assume this regime's good faith is to bet the lives of millions and the peace of the world in a reckless gamble. And this is a risk we must not take."
Source: Address to the United Nations General Assembly, White House (9/12/2002).


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Explanation This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq posed an urgent threat despite the fact that the U.S. intelligence community had deep divisions and divergent points of view regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. As Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet noted in February 2004, "Let me be clear: analysts differed on several important aspects of these programs and those debates were spelled out in the Estimate. They never said there was an 'imminent' threat."

Thank you for bringing this before us.
I like looking into this type of stuff since it helps me to see how manipulative, or just wrong the politicians/leaders of America are/can be.

The speeches are well documented, and it was fact-checked

Wow. That statement was stupid.

President George W. Bush on Al-Qaeda:

"One of the greatest dangers we face is that weapons of mass destruction might be passed to terrorists who would not hesitate to use those weapons. Saddam Hussein has longstanding, direct and continuing ties to terrorist networks. Senior members of Iraq intelligence and al Qaeda have met at least eight times since the early 1990s. Iraq has sent bomb-making and document forgery experts to work with al Qaeda. Iraq has also provided al Qaeda with chemical and biological weapons training. And an al Qaeda operative was sent to Iraq several times in the late 1990s for help in aquiring poisons and gases. We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a senior al Qaeda terrorist planner."
Source: President's Radio Address, White House (2/8/200.


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Explanation This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship. The statement also was misleading because it evoked the threat of Iraq providing al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction. According to the National Intelligence Estimate, the intelligence community had "low confidence" in that scenario.

We also found Al Qaeda members in the USA. Is the USA harboring terrorists?

Love yer logic, btw.

President George W. Bush on Urgent Threat:

"On its present course, the Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency. . . . it has developed weapons of mass death."
Source: President, House Leadership Agree on Iraq Resolution, White House (10/2/2002).


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Explanation This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq posed an urgent threat despite the fact that the U.S. intelligence community had deep divisions and divergent points of view regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. As Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet noted in February 2004, "Let me be clear: analysts differed on several important aspects of these programs and those debates were spelled out in the Estimate. They never said there was an 'imminent' threat."

"On its present course, the Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency. . . ."

In this context, the statement 'has developed weapons of mass death' is a situation of present danger. As such, the statement was a lie.

You don't seem to realize two things.

1. The gassing of Kurds by supposed Iraqi soldiers was via a weapon that Iran had, not Iraq.

2. The article that Sir posted dealt with misleading statements by Administration members of the American government, in reference to the knowledge they had on hand in comparison to what they said at the time they had that information.

I am sorry John but it was Iraqi troops who performed the gassing of Kurds on more than one occasion..... I work with two Kurdish brothers who fled from Iraq soon after these occasions.... they both witnessed these occurences and from what I understand other more brutal tactics taken by the Iraqi Troops including kidnapping, torture, murder, etc etc....... thier father worked for the UN and was able to make an escape with his entire close family...... this escape was made right after thier Uncle was taken from a crowded street right in front of his son and never seen again.... reportedly shot and buried in a mass grave..... I agree that Bush was in this war fro the wrong reasons yet whatever the reason I agree that Saddam had to be stopped..... as did the two brothers.....

So Iraq somehow acquired weapons that they didn't have and used them on people?

Instead of a more likely Iranian plot wherein they wished to cause problems for Iraq by dressing up soldiers as Iraqi soldiers, using their gas weapons on Kurds and conducting horrible activities?

They had Mustard gas.... it is not so difficult to manufacture..... nor is it very difficult to destroy the evidence afterwords..... the iranians would have had to cross miles of Iraqi air space to dump the payloads.... they would not have made it a mile....

Witness accounts from both brothers I work with suggest that what happened was Iraqi planes dumped the payloads and a day or so afterwards troops mobilized into the towns effected and rounded up some of the survivors to keep them quiet by killing them..... this is why thier uncle was kidnapped and murdered... he was very vocal about witnessing the gassing.....

Tell me JLB,..
do you have the ".gov" on the end of a domain name?

Or is your position that ICANN readily sells the prefix .gov to anyone who wants it?