The research carried out by two non-profit journalist organisations revealed that U.S. President George W. Bush and his administrative services made hundreds of false statements on national security and alleged threats by Iraq. According to the claims by his administration, Iraq closely corroborated with Al-Qaeda, which is completely false since Saddam Hussein himself saw the organisation as a threat to his own safety. Before the American invasion, Al-Qaeda did not exist in Iraq, which was corroborated by the American Senate in a report issued in 2007.
The creation of the context that enabled the ‘allied’ military action in Iraq followed the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Investigators came to the conclusion that the statements made by Bush and his administration were a part of an organised campaign aimed at deceiving the public and enabling support to the war that was based on a distorted and false reality presented to the public.
The Associated Press reports that the spokesman of the White House, Scott Stanzel, refused to comment on the research results.
The actions undertaken in 2003 are based on the collective opinion by intelligence services around the world, Stanzel said.
Bush made 935 false statements in just two years
The Bush administration made a total of 935 false statements and/or unforgivable lies within a period of two years prior to the invasion of Iraq. Speeches, interviews, conferences and meetings were a good opportunity for Bush and his associates to present false evidence of weapons of mass destruction allegedly owned by Iraq. Their goal was to instil fear in the public with threats of the infamous Al-Qaeda and so create conditions for invading the Middle East (Afghanistan and Iraq).
- It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to Al-Qaeda," 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 – investigative reporters wrote on the web site of the Center for Public Integrity.
Along with Bush, his closest associates were also labelled as war-mongers. Namely, U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, former Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former State Secretary Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Ari Fleischer and Scott McCellan.
Bush made 259 false statements, of which 231 pertained to weapons of mass destruction, and 28 regarding Iraq’s cooperation with Al-Qaeda, which implied, in the eyes of the American (and world public) Iraq’s connection with the September 11 attacks.
The research included all public appearances by Bush and his associates dating from September 11, 2001, as well as government reports, columns, books, articles and interviews published in the two-year period.
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