Study: Bush, Other Officials Issued Hundreds of False Statements Before Iraq Invasion
Raw Story -- 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/
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www.VelvetRevolution.us
Complicity
i somehow don't see the media as being at all contrite. They're all sutured to the eyelids with the Bush Crime Family. The media can still, somehow, find salvation...by broadcasting what's in front of them. However for the Crimes of the Bush Regime i sentence thee to the
Guillotine !!! Guillotine !!!
Darwin26
Viet Nam drafted Combat Veteran WIA '68
Co-State Coordinator PDA Montana
Billings Peace Seeker, member
MPFI, partner
PDA Fair Trade & Impeachment Teams
www.pdamontana.org
www.williamsstudiogallery.com
Salvation of media? Don't show them the money!
Keep boycotting media, find out their sponsors , and boycott them too. Media doesn't want to be "saved", they want to make money. Salvation would be for each individual journalist to decide about their own careers, and their own moral view of their journalistic vocation. Do they want to continue to be "bought", or free-lance out on their own? Unfortunately, now when I think of corporate journalists, I think of them with disdain the same way one thinks of used car salesmen.
Damn straight
These are traitorous acts - and death is the sentence for that.
many of us
oppose the death penalty
Yup, That Is The Path To The Dark Side . . .;-)
Yup, that is the path to the Dark Side . . .;-)
That "The King Must Die" and "An Eye for an Eye" jive is as tired as Patriarchal Fascism itself, kidz. . .
. . . plus, it goes against the basic axioms of the Great Experiment . .
"WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men (People) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"
- The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776
Justice can be served without the spilling of the blood of our brothers and sisters . . .that have obviously gone insane . . ;-)
"We were talking-
About the love that's gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know
They can't see
Are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself-
Then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come
When you see we're all one,
And life flows on within you and without you."
- Within You And Without You by The Beatles
peace.
The death penalty is a foreclosure on Historical Truth
You and David have it right Fredrick;
1. Insisting they rot in prison with a paper and pen would serve the wider civilization far more bountifully as bits and pieces leak out about Who, What, Where and How their atrocities unfolded... Watch them contradict their own ideas, their own public statements, their own stated goals. Watch with a forensic eye for the Cracks, and if they don't want to write, they can just rot.
2. Then there's the Change of Mind issue which comes when Corrupt Individuals slowly begin Modifying and Rectifying their own Criminal Mind. Everyone tries to make peace with themselves when they are left to themselves long enough as long as they realize they're never getting out.
3. On top of those two, is the popularization of murder/death/killing as a civil-solution, a myth. Civilized people do not underestimate the death-wish of suicidal-megalomaniacs who would commit atrocities simply to prove "Society is No Better Than Me, therefor I am justified", daring civilization itself to perpetuate murder/death/killing, and thereby fulfilling the subtle but prerequisite desire for power over society.
No matter how selfishly satisfying the death-penalty would be, the very motivation of murderers, this little moron-bastard needs a lifetime of having to face the growing tallies of murderous destruction he caused, and that yet will take more years, even decades to summarize, DU birth defects among them. The nature and stature of this particular Criminal Cabal, however, is going to see fake-or real assassinations/heart-attacks/disappearances that will preclude many of them, including Bush and Cheney from ever setting foot in our civilized examination-room, but that doesn't mean Justice for All is suspended... we will stalk them in or out of prison for the rest of their life, everywhere in the world.
ixoxi
Agreed ! Let them ROT!
IMPEACH BUSHCO & RICO PNAC/AIPAC>"OUT" ANTI-AMERICAN CABALS!
http://tinyurl.com/29nsjx
Let's do this instead....
Put them in a cell that faces a blank wall. Each day, bring in photographs of our brave servicemen and women who died on that particular day. Let those criminals spend the remainder of their lives with the eyes of the innocents staring at them.
About Time the MSM begins reporting the facts
At last, the MSM is beginning to reveal the truth of the tragic events of Sept 11th, 2001.
Go to: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/misinformation_study
Please read all you can about the events preceding and otherwise surrounding the tragedy of Sept 11, 2001. The facts are there for you to decide for yourself.
KT
WOW!!!
It only took the media SEVEN YEARS to report what many of us knew from the beginning--AND BEFORE?!?!
So this means Kucinich HAS been right all along?!
Does this mean there is STILL time for a Kucinich comeback?!
Does this mean MAYBE impeachment has more jet fuel to push it?!
Does this mean there is STILL TIME to save our country?!
Does this mean NOW the sleeping masses MIGHT start to clear their eyes and minds and get on the same page with the rest of us?!
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! BUT...WE CAN HOPE!!!
And In Other BIG News . .The Sun Rose In The EAST Today . .;-)
And in other BIG News . . . the Sun rose in the EAST today . . .;-)
So, the Zionist 5th Column has finally "hinted" at what we in the blog-o-sphere have been screaming from the beginning, kidz . ..;-)
"THE LIE OF THE CENTURY - The Downing Street Memo is only the beginning of the proof we were all lied to."
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/lieofthecentury.html
Oh, I can't wait to plaster this in the face of EVERY "local" Newspaper, TV Station and Radio Station in North Cackilacki . . . ESPECIALLY the New York Times owned "Wilmington Star News" . . .;-)
Damn the Torpedoes . . . FULL SPEED AHEAD, KIDZ!!!
IMPEACH NOW!!!
"Let's impeach the President for lying
And misleading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door
Who's the man who hired all the criminals
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
They bend the facts to fit with their new stories
Of why we have to send our men to war"
- Let's Impeach The President by Neil Young
peace.
So while visiting Smokies, if we see hippie wallpapering NC
We can presume its you? ;-D
Or . . .One Of Those OTHER "Damn Pesky Kidz" . . .;-)
Or . .. one of those OTHER "Damn pesky kidz" . . .;-)
"And we would have gotten away with it, too . . .
. . .IF it hadn't have been for you damn pesky kidz"
- quote from BushCo as they do the Perp Walk OUT
"You know we got a mystery to solve,
So Scooby Doo be ready for your act
Don't hold back!
And Scooby Doo if you come through
you're going to have yourself a scooby snack!
Scooby-Dooby-Doo, where are you?
You're ready and you're willing.
If we can count on you Scooby Doo,
I know you'll catch that villian."
- Theme from The Scooby Doo cartoon
peace.
"Some journalists ...far too deferential and uncritical."
"Some journalists — indeed, even some entire news organizations — have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical."
Right...we call that LYING BY OMISSION (or just plain lying).
"935 false statements" ought to help Wexler Hearings
I'm sure the committee has a solid load of false statements to go on, but this appears to be exhaustive and should be used in Hearings as an academic reference.
ixoxi
What ever happen to phase II
Wasn't the Senate suppose to conduct an investigation into the Administrations manipulation of prewar intelligence?
Call Senator Rockefeller and ask him why it hasn't happen!
Progressive Democrats of America
Impeachment Working Group National Coordinator
[Read Foreign Press]
Add High Treason to Everything Else
LYING TO CONGRESS is already "a felony", but lying to the American people and their Congress is "high treason". Telling "lies" to trick the nation into an unncessary and illegal invasion and occupation in Iraq is certainly "unconscionable" and "impeachable"! Is Congress paying any attention? Why of course they are. John Conyers recently stated to Tom Hartman that he's "documenting everything" for the next President. Nancy Pelosi has everything in her "closed case" file. Harry Reid is still complaining about not having 60 senate votes when all he needs is 40 votes to filibuster to get things done. WOW! If these Dems can't get anything done looks like the Repugs can step back up with another "Contract for America".
Treason...
Aiding an enemy of the State during war time is Treason. Now, if they are actively covering up Saudi involvement in the financing of 9/11 as Edmunds and others suggested, then that IS treason.
Meanwhile . .. Across The Pond . . .Another Dodgy Dossier
Meanwhile . . .across The Pond. . . Another Dodgy Dossier . . .;-)
(clipped headline and article from The Guardian UK)
"Government ordered to disclose draft Iraq dossier - A Whitehall spin doctor may have played a greater role in the drafting of the famous dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction than the government admitted at the time, the Information Tribunal said today."
(full story)
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,2245572,00.html
My, my, my . .. All these LIES to go to war by BushCo and their "Coalition of the Willing" (UK, ISRAEL, Haliburton, and Blackwater). . . you kidz ready to REALLY look at 9/11, yet? . . .;-)
"Ex-UN Weapons Inspector Ritter Asks If Bush, Cheney Planned Implosion Of WTC"
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2008/230108_ritter.htm
"I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now"
- Just Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon
peace.