Here's an Associated Press summary of the study:
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."
Bush himself led with 259 "false statements." Obviously, they're being polite by calling it "false statements." They mean he lied. And, of course, this was no small matter. When Bush lied, people died. Over 150,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,000 Americans, to be specific.
Watch The Young Turks Here
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 8)
61. "While the August 18 NYT article added new details about the extent of US military collaboration with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during Iraq's 1980-88 war with Iran, it omitted the most outrageous aspect of the scandal: not only did Washington turn a blind-eye to the Hussein regime's repeated use of chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers and Iraq's Kurdish minority, but the US helped Iraq develop its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs."
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2002/506/27605
Hey, Gassbag... you understand the quotes now???... and the link(starts 'http').... means the quote comes from THAT webpage.
How many 'clues' do you need? This is hilarious considering you are one who imagines that you need to be giving everyone else 'clues'.
not-pboyfloyd at 9:07PM on Jan 23rd 2008
62. Clif & not-pboyfloyd: School's In
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, Republican.
Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy, Republican.
George C. Marshall, Secretary of War, Republican.
(Marshall was the Chief Military Adviser to FDR. He also became Secretary of State after the War and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize [when they were legitimate] for the Marshall Plan.)
FDR controlled the press (not acceptable to you libs these days) and interned American Citizens (how about that Gitmo Goons). Harry S. Truman at least had the balls to allow the Republican Commanders to nuke Japan.
Paul Sparcello at 11:55PM on Jan 23rd 2008
63. And if everything you said is accurate, Paul Sparcello, it means exactly WHAT?
Captain Negative at 12:10AM on Jan 24th 2008
64. Richelle
Jeff picked on the term Liberal Fascist from me.
I used the term and Jeff looked into the term LIBERAL FASCIST, which some, without checking, said it was a made up term by me, an oxymoron
LIBERAL FASCIST is a Best Selling Book on Amazon.com
Try using and connecting your brain to your fingers before making a post.
ROBERT OKANE at 12:49AM on Jan 24th 2008
65. I am no longer surprised by the stupidity of the Bush-haters. They accuse the American citizenry of being easily duped and then they are so easily duped themselves. Or, they are treasonous liars who have no respect for the truth.
Look at two considerations:
1) What "event" or "finding" has done more damage to the Bush administration’s credibility than the opinion/conclusion that the WMDs did not exist in Iraq in 2003?
Even Katrina and the FEMA fiasco did not damage Bush's credibility as much.
If Bush & Co were so intelligent and so devious as to plan the invasion of Iraq for years, why didn't they simply...
PLANT WMDs SOMEWHERE IN THE IRAQI DESERT
..to be found later, thus, justifying their invasion?
No intelligent person will believe that the "neo-cons" could be capable of planning and executing the Iraqi invasion & occupation, and then leave themselves so exposed to obvious and expected criticism and ridicule because of the lack of WMDs!
2) The only way Bush & the "neo-cons" could have pulled this off is if Bill & Hillary & Al Gore, along with the entire international intelligence community, were either in on the deception or were also duped by the "neo-cons".
Come on people, use your brains!!!!
Let’s review the history: –
In 1990, Iraq invades Kuwait.
In 1991, a coalition of military forces push the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.
The “truce” that kept the coalition from going all the way to Baghdad contained various conditions that included the destruction of all WMDs and allowing the UN to confirm such destruction.
For 7 years, the UN’s Inspection team tried to confirm this, but, was unable to do so. In 1998, Saddam kicks the inspection team out. Clinton uses this as justification for sending cruise missiles into Iraq. He believed that the WMDs still existed. Al made the same claim in 2000 and Hillary repeated it in 2002. (Were they lying?)
In Sept, 2002, Bush announces his plans to invade Iraq and gave his justification for the invasion in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (September 12, 2002): “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?”
The WMDs did not justify the invasion. It was Saddam’s violation of 17 UN resolutions. Resolution 1441 authorized the use of force as of December 7, 2002, the deadline that had been set by the Security Council on November 8, 2002.
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix (a Swedish constitutional lawyer) opposed the invasion. But he states in his book (“Disarming Iraq”) that "Saddam failed to meet the requirements of UN Resolution 1441, that he showed his contempt for them in fact, and that they were a legal justification for force."
Madeline Albright (Sec of State under Clinton) also opposed the invasion and also admitted that the invasion was probably legal.
NOTE: the lack of WMDs DOES NOT DELEGITIMIZE THE INVASION. Saddam was obligated to cooperate with the inspections and he repeatedly failed to do so. Yes – he finally gave in once US troops were on his border, but, too late.
Actually, there was one way to stop the invasion. All Saddam had to do was leave Iraq. US forces waited for 48 hours to give him time, but he refused. That was the real reason for the invasion - regime change - and the existence or non-existence of WMDs was secondary.
Say what you want, Bush accomplished what many others could not. He got the inspection team back into Iraq!!! Choke on THAT you miserable, hypocritical, self-righteous pieces of cow dung.
Another note: Up until one month before the invasion, Hans Blix believed that the WMDs existed. That’s right assholes. You insist that “everyone knew”. Well, Hans Blix did not know” that the WMDs had been destroyed. What changed his mind? What evidence, proof, or enlightenment did Blix obtain that the previous inspection team failed to obtain in 7 years. (1991 – 1998)
Remember, absence of evidence is NOT evidence of absence!
Even once Blix announced his new position, was it really responsible for us to believe him? Why? What credibility did he really have?
And why has the media (US and international) given Blix such a free pass on this issue?
Again people, why should we have believed Blix’s opinion that the WMDs had been destroyed after 3 months of inspection when the previous team could not reach that conclusion in 7 years????
Some of you claim that it is now an internationally accepted conclusion that the WMDs were destroyed at the end of the first war.
Consider these facts:
a) One of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign advisors claimed the WMD existed and she still believes they exist. She believes the WMD were simply relocated to Syria just prior to the 2003 invasion.
b) As late as July 2007, there was STILL a team in Iraq looking for the WMDs. In fact, I can not confirm that the team has left Iraq! Why? Because Russia is demanding that this team confirm that the WMDs have been destroyed.
The Russian delegation has said that it is the United Nations' responsibility, not the U.S.-led coalition's, to certify that Iraq is in compliance with UN resolutions prohibiting the country from possessing unconventional weapons. So much for “consensus”.
ray at 2:50AM on Jan 24th 2008
66. ray-two-truths telling others to use their brains is almost as funny as anything OKANE says.
Captain Negative at 4:06AM on Jan 24th 2008
67. 79. Clif & not-pboyfloyd: School's In
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, Republican.
Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy, Republican.
George C. Marshall, Secretary of War, Republican.
xxx
commander in chief, democrat. congress, deomocratic.
General officers, under authority of the god damned commander in chief you moron!! If a general officer shows ANY attempt to make political policy or statement, he is propmtly relieved of his command. Look up Douglas MacArthur and Smedley Butler, you obtuse fool!
That was a REAL war, not a republican for-profit scam. If EITHER party had indulged in the political filth your party perpetrates today, we'd be speaking German. You are about one notch above holocaust deniers in my estimation.
You have already proven beyond any question to me that you have no real understanding of who your real enemies are. Virtually EVERYTHING in your email talking point stupidity blames 'liberals' for is the product of the republican party. Foxfarts.
You're a damn fool and want to stay one because you always hated 'liberals' without even knowing what one is. I'd bet the ranch on that. I expect you'll die that way, but that's what happens to every chicken that works for colonel sanders.
You are ME - that is the one trick your masters know. It's as silly as any grade school kid trying it, but it's all they need to make a chump out of you forever.
OK, school's out. You need to go back a couple of grades.
Then look up your boy, General Petraeus, whom the chairman joint chiefs called an 'ass kissing little chickenshit'. HE made policy at the behest of the executive office and WASN'T relieved of his command. That is why he's known as general Betrayus.
Clif Kuplen at 10:57AM on Jan 24th 2008
68. Responding to Private Zero (#83)
Is that all you have to offer to this dialogue? You are incapable of making an intelligent contribution to this blog. But, I am not surprised.
After all, you believe Bush & Co are smart enough and devious enough to be behind the 9/11 attacks on the WTC, but, they are not smart enough to plant WMDs in Iraq to cover up their "lies" and justify their invasion.
Think about it! (If you CAN think for yourself.) If Bush was lying (which means he understood he was lying), why didn’t he have the WMDs planted? He and his cohorts plan the hijacking of 4 planes, the destruction of the WTC and other buildings, the murders of thousands of American, but, they can’t plant a few WMDs?
Answer our charges assholes!
You are a complete idiot!
You ignore these questions because you know they expose you for what you are: A treasonous, self-absorbed sorry excuse for an American citizen.
You can’t even keep your own lies believable. If everything you and your slimy compatriots claim is true, then, Iraq’s WMDs were destroyed at the end of the Iraq War in 1991. Even if it took some time to accomplish this, none of Bush’s critics are claiming that the WMDs existed into 1993. Well, Clinton’s administration did not begin until January 1993. So how can you make your claim in post #36:
“During the Clinton administrtation we KNEW that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. WE HAVE THE RECEIPTS! “
Oops! As far as I can tell, you are the one doing the lying!
ray at 12:11PM on Jan 24th 2008
69. Clif:
The Democrat Party Senate Leader; Harry Reid Democrat-NV; stated the War on Terror was lost while troops are still in the field. Throw that pile of crap out along with John Murtha Democrat-PA. Your refusal to hold Democrats accountable by turning a blind eye and ear to their actions puts you in the same bag of excrement!!!!!!!
I much prefer being a "Piece of Chicken" as you state than being a "Piece of Crap".
Paul Sparcello at 12:47PM on Jan 24th 2008
70. Your refusal to hold Democrats accountable by turning a blind eye and ear to their actions puts you in the same bag of excrement!!!!!!!
I much prefer being a "Piece of Chicken" as you state than being a "Piece of Crap".
Paul Sparcello at 12:47PM on Jan 24th 2008
xx
now you're off of wwII and onto this senate? For your information, schizo, the war was WON in days. Your own president said so.
What followed and what is going on now is an OCCUPATION and that is failing.
It was a war for profit as everything known about it demonstrates. You are still being chumped out by your masters and you're getting rewarded for it.
I get the distinct impression I may be dealing with stupidity instead of ordinary neurosis. And yes, I'm a big poopyhead. It comes down to that after your silly little emails are laughed off the blog. You really ought to try some research. That crap wouldn't fool high school kids.
Clif Kuplen at 2:18PM on Jan 24th 2008
71. 24. Please explain to the class how Bush got Clinton to lie about Iraq ... when he was the govenor of Texas.
*****
Good morning, boys, girls, and welcome to today’s class! We will be covering the following during today’s lesson. Liars and the lies they tell. We will also be discussing honesty, integrity, ethical behavior and hypocrisy in our political environment.
George W. Bush never got Bill Clinton to lie about Iraq. Instead, Mr. Bush had been too busy running his baseball team to the ground, because as a businessperson he stinks. Then he was too busy with his friends going around starting rumors and lies about Ann Richard’s sexual orientation. He did this so he could win the Governorship in Texas and it worked for him. Let us remember that Ann Richards was a very good Governor who was not gay, and even if she had been it would not have matter at all. Ann Richards will always be twice the woman Karl Rove could ever hope to be and twice the man Bush will ever be!
We will discuss the big lie Bill Clinton told the American citizens when we cover sex education. We will also be covering all other politicians who joined the cause and thru stones at Bill Clinton for his indiscretions while all along they were either banging prostitutes, having extra-marital affairs of their own, leaving their wives in hospitals with cancer for their assistant, well the list goes on forever. We will also touch on those politicians whom have denied their sexual orientation and have lied about it for years, while all along condemning Bill Clinton. They will argue that lying under oath was the real issue, behind their motives. In deed, lying under oath is wrong and President Clinton was wrong to lie, however, these politician’s motives had nothing to do with ethical behavior and everything to do with hate of the president. So much so that spending taxpayers money on investigations was far more important to these fine pillars of the community.
Only traitors, lying scum and liberals morons think Bush lied about Iraq
Thomas J Gassett at 12:46PM on Jan 23rd 2008
********************
Remember this class, only TRAITORS would go so far as to out an agent working for their own government for their own personal agenda. Only TRAITORS would lie to their country. Only SCUM, would use their own troops to shut the citizens up, when they want to speak out against the government, their lies and that immoral war they started! Only MORONS would abandon Afghanistan and Osama Bin-Ladin before they job was done. Only MORONS can still back this president AKA the Decider. Only MORONS will believe that Liberals hate their country.
You have ther right to belong to whatever political party you think will work for you. However, once you have made your choice, make them work for you, make them tell you the truth and do not allow them to call any American a cut and runners or Un-American, because they do not think the way you do. In addition, if you choose to become a Republican, you may want to educate your fellow republicans on the meaning of Fascism.
Classes dismissed see you tomorrow.
Remember to do your part as a good citizen and never forget the greater good! That is the way we can all be winners.
Patty at 2:55PM on Jan 24th 2008
72. ray-two-truths writs...
"Answer our charges assholes!"
Proving my point. Ray-two-truths is as bat-shit crazy as his neo-nazi bedfellow, OKANE.
Who the fuck do you think you are, ray?
Captain Negative at 4:07PM on Jan 24th 2008
73. Throw that pile of crap out along with John Murtha Democrat-PA.
_____________
This is how you good conservatives support troops? If a soldier happens to be a Democrat, he's a pile of crap, according to you! WOW.....
________________
I much prefer being a "Piece of Chicken" as you state than being a "Piece of Crap".
Paul Sparcello at 12:47PM on Jan 24th 2008
____________
Well dude...no problem there, seeing as you are all of the above.
LB at 4:37PM on Jan 24th 2008
74. Let's remember that those are 953 specific IMPEACHABLE lies. That number doesn't include the lies told by others like Fux Noise and hate radio personalities.
Some of you have sucked up each and every one of those lies.
Captain Negative at 4:51PM on Jan 24th 2008
75. Private Zero - you dodging and ducking our questions is only proving us right and YOU WRONG!
Give us a credible suggestion as to how Bush could have planned 9/11 (complicated), but, failed teh easy task of ensuring there were some WMDs to be found in Iraq?
Next, support your claim (in post #36) “During the Clinton administrtation we KNEW that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. WE HAVE THE RECEIPTS! “, when all of the critics of Bush insist that the WMDs were destroyed in 1991.
You can't even keep YOUR lies straight.
ray at 5:25PM on Jan 24th 2008