Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Iraq War False Statements By Month Chart of 935 False Statements by 7 Admin Officials

host · 01-27-2008, 05:49 AM

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Originally Posted by aceventura3

Another perspective from the editorial pages of IBD 1/24/2008:

http://www.investors.com/editorial/e...86069773455153

Quote:

Originally Posted by aceventura3

The Editorial Board at IBD wrote the editorial, I assume they operate the same as the Editorial Boards at most News Papers. They are business oriented, right-wing, and they add a flair of sarcasm and humor...

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Originally Posted by aceventura3

t is not relevant to disproving anything.

However, I think the point is that many people believed what Bush believed about Iraq prior to the war. I always thought Bush overstated his case for war and used hyperbole.

I would not call what was said "lies". But, I generally don't trust people and assume everything is an exaggeration or untrue until I have collaborating evidence. The people who make their decision to support or vote for war based on speeches, especially those in Congress, are pretty f.....g s....d in my opinion. But thats just me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ustwo

host how did such a biased source make it past your mighty google powers?

Perhaps you don't care about the source as long as it supports your point of view I assume?

Thanks Ace, I don't bother researching the crap anymore and its nice someone does.

Guys...this is an easy one. Here are numerous quotes and news articles demonstrating that president Bush and his associates told outright falsehoods and made blatantly misleading statements to make a case for invading and occupying Iraq. I've focused almost exclusively on their "Saddam's Iraq had a "relationship" with al-Qaeda assertions. I've tried to organize the material chronologically, except for the immediately following quote box. It's purpose is to demonstrate that, finally in 2007, Bush has stopped claiming that "Saddam had relations with al Zarqawi, or al Qaeda. Compare the July 2007 statements to all of the preceding quotes, up until 9/15/06, when ABC's Martha Raddatz finally called Bush out, on his deception.

I'm confident that you two will stick to your "shoot the messenger" strategy, if you reply at all, so I'm doing this for others to compare. I did not use the resource of the "935 statements". This is the Bush et al record, their history, their "Marley's chain" ala Dickens' "Christmas Carol". So far, they are unindicted war criminals, perpetrators of Aggressive, Pre-Emptive War, Robert Jackson;s "ulitmate crime against humnaity". Finger pointing at Soros or at "host" won't alter what has happened.

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0070724-3.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 24, 2007

President Bush Discusses War on Terror in South Carolina
Charleston Air Force Base
Charleston, South Carolina

...A good place to start is with some basic facts: Al Qaeda in Iraq was founded by a Jordanian terrorist, not an Iraqi. His name

was Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Before 9/11, he ran a terrorist camp in Afghanistan. He was not yet a member of al Qaida, but our

intelligence community reports that he had longstanding relations with senior al Qaida leaders, that he had met with Osama bin

Laden and his chief deputy, Zawahiri.

In 2001, coalition forces destroyed Zarqawi's Afghan training camp, and he fled the country and he went to Iraq, where he set up

operations with terrorist associates long before the arrival of coalition forces. In the violence and instability following

Saddam's fall, Zarqawi was able to expand dramatically the size, scope, and lethality of his operation......

<h3>...Some note that al Qaida in Iraq did not exist until the U.S. invasion -- and argue that it is a problem of our own making. </h3>The

argument follows the flawed logic that terrorism is caused by American actions. Iraq is not the reason that the terrorists are at

war with us. We were not in Iraq when the terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. We were not in Iraq when they attacked

our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. We were not in Iraq when they attacked the USS Cole in 2000. And we were not in Iraq on

September the 11th, 2001....

...Thanks for letting me come by today. I've explained the connection between al Qaida and its Iraqi affiliate. I presented

intelligence that clearly establishes this connection. The facts are that al Qaida terrorists killed Americans on 9/11, they're

fighting us in Iraq and across the world, and they are plotting to kill Americans here at home again.....

Quote:

http://www.cpa-iraq.org/bios/zarqawi_bio.html
(Near the top of the page..)
....Long before the Iraq war, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was aware of a poisons and explosives training center in

northeastern Iraq that the al-Zarqawi network was running....

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=130169
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130169&page=1

<h3>Bush Calls Off Attack on Poison Gas Lab
Calls Off Operation to Take Out Al Qaeda-Sponsored Poison Gas Lab</h3>
By John McWethy

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 20 (2002)

President Bush called off a planned covert raid into northern Iraq late last week that was aimed at a small group of al Qaeda

operatives who U.S. intelligence officials believed were experimenting with poison gas and deadly toxins, according to

administration officials.

The experiments were being run under orders from a senior al Qaeda official who was providing money and guidance from elsewhere in

the region.

U.S. officials familiar with the joint CIA and Pentagon operation said they were concerned they might be dealing with what could

have been a budding chemical weapons laboratory.

Intelligence sources said the al Qaeda operatives were under the protection of a small radical Kurdish group called Ansar al

Islam. It is a radical Islamic faction closely allied with al Qaeda that operates in a part of northern Iraq controlled by Kurds.

Since the Persian Gulf War, the United States has operated a so-called no-fly zone over much of northern Iraq to protect the Kurds

from Saddam Hussein's periodic crackdowns. <h3>U.S. officials say they have no evidence Saddam's government had any knowledge of

the

al Qaeda operation.</h3>

Most of the experiments, sources say, involved a poison called ricin, a byproduct of the widely available castor bean plant.

"It is quite toxic, probably seven times more toxic than phosgene, which was a chemical weapon used in World War I," said Jonathan

Tucker, director of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at the Monterrey Institute of International

Studies.

Once a person is exposed to sufficient quantities, by inhalation or ingestion, ricin is deadly. "There is currently no treatment

and no vaccine for ricin exposure," Tucker explained.

It is especially appealing to a terrorist group because it is relatively easy to make, easy to handle and is not expensive.

As a potential weapon of terror, ricin is considered most deadly in a closed room or building, where nearly everyone could die.

In World War I, the British experimented by putting ricin in artillery shells and bombs, but they never used it on the

battlefield.

Tested on a Man

Intelligence sources told ABCNEWS there is evidence the terrorists tested ricin in water, as a powder and as an aerosol. They used

it to kill donkeys, chickens and at one point allegedly exposed a man in an Iraqi market.

They then followed him home and watched him die several days later, sources said.

As U.S. surveillance intensified, officials concluded the operation was not a major threat to the United States and definitely not

a sophisticated laboratory.

Instead, it appeared to be a few terrorists with relatively small amounts of poisons who were being encouraged to experiment by al

Qaeda managers elsewhere in the region.

<h3>In the final analysis, the White House, Pentagon and CIA concluded it was not worth risking American lives to go after these

people and not worth the adverse publicity that would surely follow any U.S. operation inside Iraq.</h3>

But as part of this operation, intelligence analysts did discover that al Qaeda money was again flowing, that new people had

stepped in to manage and encourage far-flung projects like this one offering glimpses of a terrorist network trying to put

itself back together again.

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?

res=9C07E6D7103EF934A3575AC0A9649C8B63&scp=1&sq=Bush+Aides+Set+Strategy+to+Sell+Policy+on+Iraq&st=nyt
September 7, 2002
TRACES OF TERROR: THE STRATEGY; Bush Aides Set Strategy to Sell Policy on Iraq
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

White House officials said today that the administration was following a meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the

Congress and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein.

The rollout of the strategy this week, they said, was planned long before President Bush's vacation in Texas last month. It was

not hastily concocted, they insisted, after some prominent Republicans began to raise doubts about moving against Mr. Hussein and

administration officials made contradictory statements about the need for weapons inspectors in Iraq.

The White House decided, they said, that even with the appearance of disarray it was still more advantageous to wait until after

Labor Day to kick off their plan.

''From a marketing point of view,'' said Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff who is coordinating the effort,

<h3>''you don't introduce new products in August.''</h3>

A centerpiece of the strategy, White House officials said, is to use Mr. Bush's speech on Sept. 11 to help move Americans toward

support of action against Iraq, which could come early next year. ....

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0021007-8.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 7, 2002

President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat
Remarks by the President on Iraq
Cincinnati, Ohio

....Members of the Congress of both political parties, and members of the United Nations Security Council, agree that Saddam

Hussein is a threat to peace and must disarm. We agree that the Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the

world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons. Since we all agree on this goal, the issues is : how can we

best achieve it?....

...First, some ask why Iraq is different from other countries or regimes that also have terrible weapons. While there are many

dangers in the world, the threat from Iraq stands alone -- because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place.

....

...This same tyrant has tried to dominate the Middle East, has invaded and brutally occupied a small neighbor, has struck other

nations without warning, and holds an unrelenting hostility toward the United States.....

....Some ask how urgent this danger is to America and the world. The danger is already significant, and it only grows worse with

time. If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today -- and we do -- does it make any sense for the world to wait to

confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?.....

....Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles -- far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel,

Turkey, and other nations -- in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and service members live and work. We've also

discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to

disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for

missions targeting the United States. And, of course, sophisticated delivery systems aren't required for a chemical or biological

attack; all that might be required are a small container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver it......

.... We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy -- the United States of America. We know that Iraq

and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These

include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with

planning for chemical and biological attacks. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and

deadly gases. And we know that after September the 11th, Saddam Hussein's regime gleefully celebrated the terrorist attacks on

America.

Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists. ....

...The dictator of Iraq is a student of Stalin, using murder as a tool of terror and control, within his own cabinet, within his

own army, and even within his own family.

On Saddam Hussein's orders, opponents have been decapitated, wives and mothers of political opponents have been systematically

raped as a method of intimidation, and political prisoners have been forced to watch their own children being tortured. .....

...Later this week, the United States Congress will vote on this matter. I have asked Congress to authorize the use of America's

military, if it proves necessary, to enforce U.N. Security Council demands.....

.... Members of Congress are nearing an historic vote. I'm confident they will fully consider the facts, and their duties.

The attacks of September the 11th showed our country that vast oceans no longer protect us from danger. Before that tragic date,

we had only hints of al Qaeda's plans and designs. Today in Iraq, we see a threat whose outlines are far more clearly defined, and

whose consequences could be far more deadly. Saddam Hussein's actions have put us on notice, and there is no refuge from our

responsibilities. ....

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0021014-4.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 14, 2002

Remarks by the President in Michigan Welcome

.....September the 11th changed the equation, changed our thinking
. It also changed our thinking when we began to realize that one of the most dangerous things that can happen in the modern era is

for a deceiving dictator who has gassed his own people, who has weapons of mass destruction to team up with an organization like

al Qaeda.

As I said -- I was a little more diplomatic in my speech, but we need to --
we need to think about Saddam Hussein using al Qaeda to do his dirty work, to not leave fingerprints behind.....

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0021107-2.html
or Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 7, 2002

President Outlines Priorities
Presidential Hall

.... Q With Iraq.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, okay.

Q Your CIA Director told Congress just last month that it appears that Saddam Hussein "now appears to be drawing a line short of

conducting terrorist attacks against the United States." But if we attacked him he would "probably become much less constrained."

Is he wrong about that?

THE PRESIDENT: No. I think that -- I think that if you would read the full -- I'm sure he said other sentences. Let me just put it

to you, I know George Tenet well. I meet with him every single day. He sees Saddam Hussein as a threat. I don't know what the

context of that quote is. I'm telling you, the guy knows what I know, that he is a problem and we must deal with him.

And, you know, it's like people say, oh, we must leave Saddam alone; otherwise, if we did something against him, he might attack

us. Well, if we don't do something, he might attack us, and he might attack us with a more serious weapon. The man is a threat,

Hutch, I'm telling you. He's a threat not only with what he has, he's a threat with what he's done. He's a threat because he is

dealing with al Qaeda.....

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...es+iraq&st=nyt
THREATS AND RESPONSES: DIPLOMACY; POWELL, IN EUROPE, NEARLY DISMISSES U.N.'S IRAQ REPORT

By MARK LANDLER AND ALAN COWELL
Published: January 27, 2003

....Bringing the case for military action to a deeply skeptical audience of political, business and religious leaders at a

conference in the Swiss Alps, Mr. Powell said Saddam Hussein of Iraq had ''repeatedly violated the trust of the United Nations,

his people and his neighbors.'' He renewed an administration contention that Mr. Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda terrorists.

[Excerpts, Page A8.]....

...Asked for evidence to back up Mr. Powell's assertion that Mr. Hussein has ''clear ties'' to Al Qaeda and other terrorist

groups, Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, said on ''Fox News Sunday'' that the Iraqi leader ''has had a history

of a relationship with terrorist organizations in the past, and it would be horrible if his weapons of mass destruction got into

the hands of terrorists.''....

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...030128-19.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 28, 2003

President Delivers "State of the Union"
The U.S. Capitol

HE PRESIDENT:

...Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein

aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his

hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses

and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this

time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror

like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes. (Applause.)

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions,

politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all

words, and all recriminations would come too late. ...

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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...sh+said&st=nyt
January 29, 2003
STATE OF THE UNION: COLLECTING PROOF; Bush's Speech Puts New Focus On State of Intelligence Data
By JAMES RISEN

...Officials at the White House and the Pentagon have pointed to links between the Bagdhad government and an extremist group in

northern Iraq known as Ansar al-Islam, which had members train in Al Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan before Sept. 11. Administration

officials have asserted that the terror group has been supported by Mr. Hussein.

But American intelligence has been sharply divided over whether Mr. Hussein controls Ansar or uses it as a channel to Al Qaeda.

According to some intelligence officials, there has been a long-running debate within the intelligence community about the nature

of the relationship between Iraq and Ansar. The Iraqi government clearly tolerates the existence of the extremist group, which has

fought Mr. Hussein's opponents, the Kurds, in northern Iraq.

Mr. Hussein's government may have provided some support for the terror group over the years as well. Recently, the administration

has argued that the presence in Baghdad of one senior Qaeda leader, Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, indicated a more direct link to Al

Qaeda, and that Mr. Zarqawi, a Jordanian, had received medical treatment in Iraq for wounds supposedly suffered in Afghanistan. He

is reported to have left Iraq afterward. ...

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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...sh+said&st=nyt
January 31, 2003
THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE PROOF; U.S. May Give The U.N. Data On Iraqi Labs
By JAMES DAO

.... In his presentation to the United Nations next week on Iraq's concealment of weapons, administration officials indicate,

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell will provide three major categories of intelligence: on Iraq's mobile biological weapons labs;

on its purchase of materials for making chemical, biological and nuclear arms; and on its ties to terrorist groups.

In addition, two senior State Department officials told senators today that there was ''clear evidence'' that Iraq is hiding

biological and chemical weapons, harassing weapons inspectors and harboring members of Al Qaeda.

One of the officials, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, said Mr. Powell was working ''feverishly'' to have

photographs, communications interceptions and other intelligence relating to Iraq's weapons programs and ties to Al Qaeda

declassified to make the administration's case more powerful. In particular, Mr. Powell is hoping to present convincing

intelligence -- possibly satellite photos -- that Iraq has been hiding mobile biological weapons labs, Mr. Armitage told the

Foreign Relations Committee.

Mr. Powell ''is going to be showing some new intelligence and some new information,'' Mr. Armitage said, adding, ''No one will be

able to evade the absolute conclusion about Saddam Hussein's denial, deception, his absolute lack of willingness to show any sign

of a disarmament motive in his mind.''

Other administration officials said that Mr. Powell would probably present intelligence, much of it gathered from detainees held

at the Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, indicating that Qaeda members had sought training in chemical weapons in Iraq. Some intelligence

officials have said they have been unable to corroborate the detainees' reports.

In a remarkably candid moment, Mr. Armitage, a blunt-spoken former Navy officer, <h3>also acknowledged that the administration had

on occasion tried to build its case against Iraq on ambiguous intelligence</h3>, and he pledged that Mr. Powell would bring only

the most compelling, clear-cut data available to the United Nations.

As an example of such ambiguous information, Democrats today cited the administration's assertion, repeated by President Bush in

his State of the Union address, that Iraq had bought aluminum tubes to restart its nuclear weapons program. The head of the

International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, has said the tubes can just as easily be used to build nonnuclear

rockets. ..

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...es+iraq&st=nyt
THREATS AND RESPONSES: TERROR LINKS; Split at C.I.A. and F.B.I. On Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda

By JAMES RISEN AND DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: February 2, 2003

The Bush administration's efforts to build a case for war against Iraq using intelligence to link it to Al Qaeda and the

development of prohibited weapons has created friction within United States intelligence agencies, government officials said.

Some analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency have complained that senior administration officials have exaggerated the

significance of some intelligence reports about Iraq, particularly about its possible links to terrorism, in order to strengthen

their political argument for war, government officials said.

At the Federal Bureau of Investigation, <h3>some investigators said they were baffled by the Bush administration's insistence on a

solid link between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network.</h3> ''We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know

what, we just don't think it's there,'' a government official said.

The tension within the intelligence agencies comes as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is poised to go before the United Nations

Security Council on Wednesday to present evidence of Iraq's links to terrorism and its continuing efforts to develop chemical,

biological and nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

Interviews with administration officials revealed divisions between, on one side, the Pentagon and the National Security Council,

which has become a clearinghouse for the evidence being prepared for Mr. Powell, and, on the other, the C.I.A. and, to some

degree, the State Department and agencies like the F.B.I.

In the interviews, two officials, Paul D. Wolfowitz, deputy defense secretary, and Stephen J. Hadley, deputy national security

adviser, were cited as being most eager to interpret evidence deemed murky by intelligence officials to show a clearer picture of

Iraq's involvement in illicit weapons programs and terrorism. Their bosses, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the national

security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, have also pressed a hard line, officials said.

A senior administration official said discussions in preparation for Mr. Powell's presentation were intense, but not rancorous,

and said there was little dissension among President Bush's top advisers about the fundamental nature of President Saddam

Hussein's government. ''I haven't detected anyone who thinks this a not compelling case,'' the official said.

Mr. Bush asserted in his State of the Union address this week that Iraq was protecting and aiding Qaeda operatives, but American

intelligence and law enforcement officials said the evidence was fragmentary and inconclusive.

''It's more than just skepticism,'' said one official, describing the feelings of some analysts in the intelligence agencies. ''I

think there is also a sense of disappointment with the community's leadership that they are not standing up for them at a time

when the intelligence is obviously being politicized.''

Neither George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, nor the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, have publicly

engaged in the debate about the evidence on Iraq in recent weeks, even as the Bush administration has intensified its efforts to

build the case for a possible war.

The last time Mr. Tenet found himself at the center of the public debate over intelligence concerning Iraq was in October, when

the Senate declassified a brief letter Mr. Tenet wrote describing some of the C.I.A.'s assessments about Iraq.

His letter stated that the C.I.A. believed that Iraq had, for the time being, probably decided not to conduct terrorist attacks

with conventional or chemical or biological weapons against the United States, but the letter added that Mr. Hussein might resort

to terrorism if he believed that an American-led attack was about to begin.

Alliances within the group of officials involved have strengthened the argument that Mr. Bush should take a firm view of the

evidence. ''Wolfowitz and Hadley are very compatible,'' said one administration official. ''They have a very good working

relationship.''

There were some signs that Mr. Powell might not present the administration's most aggressive case against Iraq when he speaks to

the United Nations, leaving such a final definitive statement to the president in some future address. .....

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...es+iraq&st=nyt
February 5, 2003
THREATS AND RESPONSES: BAGHDAD; Iraq Has No Banned Arms, Hussein Says in Interview
By DON VAN NATTA JR.

In a rare televised interview that was broadcast here tonight, Saddam Hussein denied that Iraq possessed any weapons of mass

destruction or had any links to the terror network Al Qaeda.

''If we had a relationship with Al Qaeda, and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed to admit it,'' Mr. Hussein

told the interviewer, Tony Benn, a retired left-wing member of the House of Commons who said he went to Baghdad to interview Mr.

Hussein in a last-ditch effort to prevent an American-led invasion of Iraq.

The Iraqi leader insisted that he still held out hope for peace, and accused the United States of hunting for a ''pretext for

aggression'' that would justify an invasion of Iraq to meet its goals of controlling the world's oil supply and, ultimately,

controlling the world.

Excerpts from the one-hour interview with Mr. Hussein were televised here tonight on Channel 4, on the eve of Secretary of State

Colin L. Powell's speech before the United Nations Security Council. Mr. Powell is expected to present evidence both that Iraq has

hidden enormous caches of weapons of mass destruction from inspectors and that it has ties to Al Qaeda. The interview, which was

Mr. Hussein's first with a foreign journalist since the most recent crisis began, was videotaped on Sunday evening at one of the

presidential palaces in Baghdad.

Mr. Hussein insisted that it was impossible to hide weapons of mass destruction from United Nations inspectors. ''These weapons do

not come in small pills that you can hide in your pocket,'' he said, motioning toward his suit jacket pocket. ''These are weapons

of mass destruction, and it is easy to work out if Iraq has them or not.''

Iraq now stands at the brink of an American-led invasion, Mr. Hussein said, despite a long record of cooperation with the

inspectors. He attributed this to the United States' desire to seize the world's oil reserves and ''control the world and spread

its hegemony.'' ....

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...030206-17.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 6, 2003

President Bush: "World Can Rise to This Moment"
Statement by the President

... Saddam Hussein has longstanding, direct and continuing ties to terrorist networks. Senior members of Iraqi 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.

We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network, headed by a senior al Qaeda terrorist planner. The network runs a poison

and explosive training center in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are known to be in Baghdad. The head of this network

traveled to Baghdad for medical treatment and stayed for months. Nearly two dozen associates joined him there and have been

operating in Baghdad for more than eight months. ....

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...=&pagewanted=2
February 9, 2003
THREATS AND RESPONSES: WHITE HOUSE MEMO; War Public Relations Machine Is Put on Full Throttle
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

It was right before Christmas, in a Saturday meeting in the Oval Office, that President Bush first heard the intercepted

conversations between Iraqi military officers that became a centerpiece of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's presentation this

week to the United Nations Security Council.

On that day, Dec. 21, Mr. Bush sat with George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, and Condoleezza Rice, his national

security adviser, and listened to the recordings of Iraqis talking about ''nerve agents'' and apparent efforts to hide

incriminating material from United Nations arms inspectors.

That presentation, given to the president so he could consider whether to make the classified recordings and other intelligence

public, was the beginning of what the White House is calling its 2003 campaign to move Americans toward support of war with Iraq.

The public relations campaign, coordinated by the White House communications office and the National Security Council, has

included carefully timed speeches by Mr. Bush and his war council, a close monitoring of public opinion polls and the use of

television in crucial markets to spread the administration's message across the country.

On Thursday, the same day Mr. Bush appeared in the Roosevelt Room to say ''the game is over'' and put his imprimatur on Mr.

Powell's United Nations remarks, the White House directed the top two officials at the Pentagon to give an unusual series of

interviews underscoring Mr. Powell's case.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld spoke to anchors at the ABC television affiliate in Los Angeles, the Fox affiliate in

Chicago, the NBC affiliate in Seattle and the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis. The No. 2 official at the Pentagon, Paul D. Wolfowitz,

one of the administration's biggest hawks on Iraq, gave interviews to local television anchors in New York, Cleveland and San

Francisco. On Wednesday night, Ms. Rice made the case in appearances on CNN's ''Larry King Live'' and ABC's ''Nightline.''

''We knew there was going to have to be a steady escalation of public appearances and speeches and comments about the nature of

the threat,'' said Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director.

Matthew Dowd, the Republican strategist who oversees polling for the White House, said there had been no overnight poll by the

White House or Republican National Committee to gauge reaction to Mr. Powell. But he said he was encouraged by other polls showing

a rise in support for action to oust Saddam Hussein, with 60 percent or more favoring a war with Iraq.

''The one-nights were all good,'' Mr. Dowd said in an interview. ''But it's one night, and I would have expected there to be a

jump up. I think what matters is where it is a week from now.''

The White House campaign has nonetheless suffered numerous stumbles and setbacks. A debate continued among Mr. Bush's top national

security aides until the night before Mr. Powell's testimony over how much information to declassify, reflecting the tension

between trying to convince the public of the threat of Mr. Hussein and fears that the sources of the intelligence would be

compromised.

Administration officials were also alarmed when the French foreign minister said at the United Nations on Jan. 20 that ''nothing,

nothing'' justifies war. In that same period, the United Nations weapons inspectors were asking for many more months to complete

their work.

The developments prompted some White House officials to murmur among themselves, as one put it, that it was beginning to feel ''a

lot like August'' -- a reference to last summer, when Mr. Bush stayed largely silent on Iraq at his Texas ranch as a debate over

the war raged among leading Republicans and on the opinion pages of newspapers.

But the White House soon moved to take control of the agenda with a precisely coordinated series of speeches. On Jan. 21, Richard

L. Armitage, the deputy secretary of state, gave a speech in Washington, saying that it was ''ludicrous'' to think that Mr.

Hussein would remain ''in his box.'' Mr. Wolfowitz followed on Jan. 23 in New York, telling the Council on Foreign Relations that

Mr. Hussein had ordered any Iraqi scientist who cooperated in an interview with inspectors to be killed, along with his family.

Mr. Powell, until then the administration's strongest advocate for weapons inspections, continued the campaign on Jan. 26 in

Davos, Switzerland, indicating that he thought the inspections were useless.

White House officials leaned on Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, to be tough when he gave his Jan. 27 report

to the United Nations on Iraq's cooperation. Mr. Blix was issuing a broadly negative report that gave Mr. Bush the opening he

needed in his State of the Union address the next day to move the argument forward by adding that Iraq had ties to Al Qaeda. Mr.

Bush also promised that the secretary of state would provide the details of these links in his presentation to the United Nations

last Wednesday.

The State of the Union address, Mr. Bartlett said, was ''not the appropriate forum'' to present what became Mr. Powell's 90-minute

brief against Mr. Hussein. Mr. Powell also happens to be the administration's most respected figure worldwide, with polls showing

his favorability ratings higher than those of the president. ''The bottom line is, he's a strategic asset,'' a senior

administration official said.

The brief, which had been in large part assembled by Stephen J. Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, was closely

monitored at the White House. Mr. Bush missed the first half hour of Mr. Powell's presentation because of a meeting with Poland's

prime minister, but he watched the next hour live, over cheese and crackers and a Diet Coke, in his dining room off the Oval

Office. With him were Ms. Rice, Mr. Hadley and Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary.

Mr. Bush was so familiar with Mr. Powell's presentation, Mr. Fleischer said, that he would signal to the group crucial parts of

the testimony.

''The president would say, 'This part's coming up,' '' Mr. Fleischer said. Afterward, Mr. Bush called Mr. Powell to congratulate

him.

On Friday, Mr. Blix is to report back to the United Nations on the progress of weapons inspections, an assessment expected to be

negative. Then Mr. Bush will press his case into late February or early March -- when Pentagon officials say they will be ready

for war. As the president said at the White House on Thursday, ''The game is over.''

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...=&pagewanted=3
THREATS AND RESPONSES: TERROR NETWORK; A Terror Lieutenant With a Deadly Past

By DON VAN NATTA JR. WITH DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: February 10, 2003

...The American officials acknowledged there were differences among analysts about whether the camp had any connection to Al Qaeda

or to Iraq. Ansar al-Islam's founder, Mullah Krekar, denied in an interview last week that his agency had ties to Mr. Zarqawi, Al

Qaeda or the Iraqi government.

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...sh+said&st=nyt
THREATS AND RESPONSES: WASHINGTON; TOP U.S. OFFICIALS PRESS CASE LINKING IRAQ TO AL QAEDA

By DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: February 12, 2003

Senior Bush administration officials intensified the effort to make the case for military action against Saddam Hussein today,

with testimony by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, linking Iraq and

Al Qaeda....

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...sh+said&st=nyt
March 9, 2003
THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE TROOPS; C.I.A. Warning Of Terror Risk To G.I.'s in Iraq
By THOM SHANKER AND DAVID JOHNSTON

.....Critics of the administration's stance on Iraq have questioned its assertion that the Baghdad government has tolerated or

even supported the Qaeda terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden.

A map accompanying the C.I.A. assessment states that a cell of up to two dozen Qaeda operatives had been set up in Baghdad,

echoing a charge made by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in his speech on Feb. 5 at the United Nations.

The C.I.A. document identifies four Qaeda followers in Baghdad, described by one official as ''second- or third-tier leaders.''

American officials who discussed the assessment declined to name those Qaeda lieutenants. Smaller cells are also believed to be

operating in Mosul and Erbil, in northern Iraq, according to the analysis.

The C.I.A. report said those cells were organized by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a poisons expert and terror recruiter who in recent

weeks has been identified by Mr. Powell and other administration officials as an important link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. .....

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0030317-7.html
or Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 17, 2003

President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation
The Cross Hall

....THE PRESIDENT:

........The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends. And

it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda....

Quote:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...1/ai_n14549543
Coalition claims evidence ties Iraqi group to al-Qaida
Oakland Tribune, Apr 1, 2003 by Dafna Linzer, Associated Press

and Borzou Daragahi

BIYARE, Iraq -- A U.S.-led assault on a compound controlled by an Iraqi-based extremist Islamic group has turned up a list of

names of suspected militants living in the United States and what may be the strongest evidence yet linking Ansar al-Islam to al-

Qaida, coalition commanders said Monday.

The cache of documents, including computer discs and foreign passports belonging to Arab fighters from around the Middle East,

could bolster the Bush administration's claims that the two groups are connected, although there was no indication any of the

evidence tied Ansar to Saddam Hussein as Washington has maintained.

There were indications, however, that the group has been getting help from inside neighboring Iran.....

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...=&pagewanted=2
A NATION AT WAR: BANNED WEAPONS; U.S. Search for Illegal Arms Narrowed to About 36 Sites

By DON VAN NATTA JR. AND DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: April 14, 2003

American military intelligence officials have also sought evidence that the Qaeda terror network had a presence in Iraq and ties

to Mr. Hussein's government. Here, too, they have come up empty....

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...030501-15.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 1, 2003

President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended
Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln
At Sea Off the Coast of San Diego, California

....THE PRESIDENT: The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes

on....

....THE PRESIDENT: The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We've removed an ally of al Qaeda,

and cut off a source of terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction

from the Iraqi regime, because the regime is no more...

Quote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...es+iraq&st=nyt
June 9, 2003
THREATS AND RESPONSES: C.I.A.; Captives Deny Qaeda Worked With Baghdad
By JAMES RISEN

Two of the highest-ranking leaders of Al Qaeda in American custody have told the C.I.A. in separate interrogations that the

terrorist organization did not work jointly with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, according to several intelligence

officials.

Abu Zubaydah, a Qaeda planner and recruiter until his capture in March 2002, told his questioners last year that the idea of

working with Mr. Hussein's government had been discussed among Qaeda leaders, but that Osama bin Laden had rejected such

proposals, according to an official who has read the Central Intelligence Agency's classified report on the interrogation.

In his debriefing, Mr. Zubaydah said Mr. bin Laden had vetoed the idea because he did not want to be beholden to Mr. Hussein, the

official said.

Separately, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Qaeda chief of operations until his capture on March 1 in Pakistan, has also told

interrogators that the group did not work with Mr. Hussein, officials said.

The Bush administration has not made these statements public, though it frequently highlighted intelligence reports that supported

its assertions of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda as it made its case for war against Iraq.

Since the war ended, and because the administration has yet to uncover evidence of prohibited weapons in Iraq, the quality of

American intelligence has come under scrutiny amid contentions that the administration selectively disclosed only those

intelligence reports that supported its case for war.

Bill Harlow, a spokesman for the Central Intelligence Agency, declined to comment on what the two Qaeda leaders had told their

questioners. A senior intelligence official played down the significance of their debriefings, explaining that everything Qaeda

detainees say must be regarded with great skepticism.

Other intelligence and military officials added that evidence of possible links between Mr. Hussein's government and Al Qaeda had

been discovered -- both before the war and since -- and that American forces were searching Iraq for more in Iraq.

Still, no conclusive evidence of joint terrorist operations by Iraq and Al Qaeda has been found, several intelligence officials

acknowledged, nor have ties been discovered between Baghdad and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York.

Between the time of the attacks and the start of the war in Iraq in March, senior Bush administration officials spoke frequently

about intelligence on two fronts -- the possibility of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and Baghdad's drive to develop prohibited

weapons. President Bush described the war against Iraq as part of the larger war on terrorism, and argued that the possibility

that Mr. Hussein might hand over illicit weapons to terrorists posed a threat to the United States

. click to show

The issue of the public presentation of the evidence is different from whether the intelligence itself was valid, and some

officials said they believed that the former might ultimately prove to be more significant, since the Bush administration relied

heavily on the release of intelligence reports to build its case, both with the American people and abroad.

''This gets to the serious question of to what extent did they try to align the facts with the conclusions that they wanted,'' an

intelligence official said. ''Things pointing in one direction were given a lot of weight, and other things were discounted.''

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0030917-7.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 17, 2003

Remarks by the President After Meeting with Members of the Congressional Conference Committee on Energy Legislation

..THE PRESIDENT: ,,,,King.

Q Mr. President, Dr. Rice and Secretary Rumsfeld both said yesterday that they have seen no evidence that Iraq had anything to do

with September 11th. Yet, on Meet the Press, Sunday, the Vice President said Iraq was a geographic base for the terrorists and he

also said, I don't know, or we don't know, when asked if there was any involvement. Your critics say that this is some effort --

deliberate effort to blur the line and confuse people. How would you answer that?

THE PRESIDENT: We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th. What the Vice President said was,

is that he has been involved with al Qaeda. And al Zarqawi, al Qaeda operative, was in Baghdad. He's the guy that ordered the

killing of a U.S. diplomat. He's a man who is still running loose, involved with the poisons network, involved with Ansar al-

Islam. <h3>There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al Qaeda ties. </h3>...

Next: Jan., 2004, through December, 2007,