935

Joshua

That’s the number of “false statements” Bush and his administration made in the two-year run-up to the Iraq War, according to a study from Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism:

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 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.”

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.

This is purported to be the link between Bush’s willingness to go to war and the public support for Bush’s decision:

“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… 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,” the study said.

The Center for Public Integrity can be found here. The report can be found here.

David

January 23, 2008 at 7:16 am

Here are a few statements about this left-liberal masturbatory study that should have been titled, “BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED!”

1) There’s nothing there we didn’t know already with the benefit of hindsight. There’s nothing there that proves any sort of lying in the run-up or prosecution of the war, only Monday-morning quarterbacking about things most of the world considered true until we went in there and did the dirty work the sort of hand-flapping cowards who compiled this “study” decried from Day One without the benefit of anything but emotional appeals summed up in the statement, “War is not the answer.” The only reason such a study was compiled was to give Bush-haters an erection.

2) The Fund for Independence in Journalism gets its funding from George Soros (the Prince of Darkness when it comes to Bush Derangement Syndrome) and the Streisand Foundation (the Princess of Darkness). When you create a Study to Look for Things We’re Looking For, you’re likely going to find them. I can only imagine that this was distributed to its benefactors electronically; if it was given on paper, the moisture stains from its frothing readers would have made it illegible after the first perusal.

3) The study does nothing to refute the facts that al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein were closely linked, that Saddam Hussein was a danger to his people and the world at large, nobody knows what happened to Hussein’s WMD stockpiles, etc. That is, they did none of the hard work, instead cherry-picking yesterday’s statements in order to create a false impression of deliberate mendacity. So, in short, this study has actually done what it claims the Bush administration did: created a smokescreen of falsehood.

4) Bush isn’t getting reelected. GET OVER IT. GROW UP. Before long, Obama or Clinton will be back in charge in the Oval Office, and things will be good again. We’ll bend over and spread our cheeks to America’s enemies the way the left wants, and tax ourselves into universal prosperity. We’re almost there.