Because today, April 07, 2004, NSA Condoleeza Rice is to 'perform' her testimony for President Bush' benefit, I want to re-post the 'Waxman Report' for background as to her - and his - credibility. Here it is:
Approximately three weeks ago a report of false or mis-leading statements [237 of the] made by 5 Bush Administration officials was in the news. This news is contained on the following document: “United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform – Minority Staff Special Investigations Division March 16, 2004; IRAQ ON THE RECORD; THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON IRAQ.” As prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman.
This document is contained on PDF and is viewable, but until now, has not been excerpted for reading by a wider audience. This then, is an excerpting of relevant information contained in that report for all Americans to view and use in disseminating this information to the public.
NOTE: for those reading on a blog site, the bulleting and bold may not show up properly. Please feel free to peruse the entire document if there is any doubt as to any statement made herein, by going to the Committee on Government Reform – Minority Office.
My own commentary will follow once the entirety of the excerpted report is put up – probably in three parts.
I have skipped the ‘Executive Summary’ portion and begin with II. METHODOLOGY on page 1. I have taken liberties to substantially edit down the text to fit a reasonable document and summary format. In so doing I will make use of many “…’s” for there are even sentences excerpted ‘in relevant part’ so as to make this over 40 page document more concise. Anyone wishing to view the literal document in its entirety may go to:, http://www.house.gov/reform/min/pdfs_108_2/pdfs_inves/pdf_admin_iraq_on_the_record_rep.pdf and view it in PDF. Any dispute with content may be referred for correction. While sentences are excerpted, none are altered in order of word, not is any intention deliberately changed. This is merely a summary, not an original document or replacement for the entire text.
II. METHODOLOGY
“The ‘Iraq on the Record’ database contains statements from five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on the Iraq was:
“The statements..are drawn from 125 public statements..:40 speeches, 26 press conferences and briefings, 53 interviews, 4 written statements and articles, and 2 appearances before congressional committees. Quotes from the officials in newspaper.. were not included.
“(a statement is considered ‘misleading’ if it conflicted with what intelligence officials knew at the time or involved the selective use of intelligence or the failure to include essential qualifiers or caveats.)
“..hypothetical and implied statements about threats were not included..A few such statements were included..where they implied a threat in evocative and frightening language. These statements were misleading because the effect was to instill in the public the perception that the threat actually existed.
“..the special Investigations Division excluded hundreds of statements ..that..observers would consider misleading. For example,..claims that Iraq “had” stockpiles,.. were not included ..because Iraq did possess chemical weapons [as e.g. 1980’s].
Joseph Cirincione and Greg Thielmann, ..judged that this report is a fair and accurate depiction of the Administration’s statements.”
III NUMBER AND TIMING OF MISLEADING STATEMENTS
“Bush,..Cheney..Rumsfeld,..Powell,..Rice, ..made these statements in 125 separate public appearances…
The misleading statements began at least one year before the start of the war in Iraq when ..Cheney..March 17, 2002: “
“The President made it clear that we are convinced about nations such as Iraq
developing weapons of mass destruction. We know the Iraqis have been engaged in such efforts over the years. We know they have biological and chemical weapons…And we have reason to believe they’re pursuing the acquisition of nuclear weapons.”
“These..have continued through at least January 22, 2004, when Vice President Cheney said, “I think there’s overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government…I’m very confident that there was an established relationship there.”…”we know…that prior to our going in that he[Hussein] had spent time and effort acquiring mobile biological weapons labs, and we’re quite confident he did, in fact, have such a program. We’ve found a couple of semi trailers at this point which we believe were, in fact, part of that program.”
The majority..161[of false or misleading statements were made in the buildup to the war in Iraq. The volume..peaked before key decision points in the buildup to the war.
“In 10 instances,,the statements..directly contradicted facts known at the time by the Administration. For example, on July 11, 2003, Ms. Rice stated with respect to the claim that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa: ‘Now, if there were doubts about the underlying intelligence…those doubts were not communicated to the President, to the Vice President, or to me.’ This statement is false because, as Ms. Rice’s deputy Stephen Hadley subsequently acknowledged, the CIA sent Ms. Rice and Mr. Hadley memos in October 2002 warning against the use of this claim.
“The misleading statements …fall into four..catetgories:1.) statements suggesting that Iraq posed an urgent threat,2) statements regarding Iraq’s nuclear activities,3) statements regarding Iraq’s biological and chemical weapons capabilities, and 4) statements regarding support of al Qaeda.
A. Statements that Iraq posed and Urgent Threat
On February 5, 2004, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet categorically stated that the U.S. intelligence community “never said there was an ‘imminent’ threat.” Yet this was not the impression conveyed by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice… In 10 different appearances..these 5 individuals made 11 statements claiming that Iraq posed an urgent threat.
For example:
• President Bush stated on October 2, 2002: “the Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency….t has developed weapons of mass death.”
• President Bush stated on November 20, 2002: “Today the world is…uniting to answer the unique and urgent threat posed by Iraq.”
• Vice President Cheney stated on August 26, 2002: Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.”
On November 14, 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld stated:
“Now, transport yourself forward a year, two years, or a week, or a month, and if Saddam Hussein were to take his weapons of mass destruction and transfer them, either use them himself, or transfer them to the Al-Qaeda, and somehow the Al-Qaeda were to engage in an attack on the United States, or an attack on U.S. forces overseas, with a weapon of mass destruction you’re not talking about 300, or 3,000 people potentially being killed, but 30,000 or 100,000…human beings.”
B. Statements about Iraq’s Nuclear Capabilities
“The Administration’s statements about nuclear capabilities had a large impact on congressional and public perceptions..Many members of Congress were more influenced by the Administration’s nuclear assertions…Rep, Waxman, for example, wrote in June 2003, that in voting for the war, “Like other members, I was particularly influenced by your views about Iraq’s intentions. Although chemical and biological weapons can inflict casualties, no threat is greater that the threat of nuclear weapons.’
[also included are, Senator Mary Landrieu, Oct.10,2002; Rep. C.L. “Butch” Otter, Oct. 10,2002; Rep. Dennis Moore. Oct. 10,2002]
[The 5]”.repeatedly misrepresented the nuclear threat posed by Iraq. ..and made 49 separate public appearances in which they made misleading statements about Iraq’s nuclear threat..a total of 81 misleading statements.
“The INR,[and] International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)..concluded that there was “no indication of resumed activities…nor any indication of nuclear-related prohibited activities.”
“These doubts..were not communicated to the public [by] the five Administration officials [who] repeatedly made unequivocal comments about Iraq’s nuclear program. For example, President Bush said in October 2002, ‘[t]he regime has the scientists and facilities to build nuclear weapons and is seeking the materials required to do so.’ ..days later, President Bush asserted ..Hussein ‘is moving ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon,’
“Vice President Cheney made perhaps the single most egregious statement about Iraq’s nuclear capabilities, claiming: ‘we know he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.’
[The 5] portrayed the threat ..Hussein waging nuclear war against the United States..as one of the most urgent reasons for preemptively attacking Iraq. ..On the eve of congressional votes,..President Bush stated: Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof – the smoking gun – that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.’
2. Claims about the Aluminum Tubes
In 2001 and 2002 shipments of aluminum tubes to Iraq were intercepted.
Numerous experts believed the tubes were for conventional rockets rather than a nuclear development program….Department of Energy…in the NIE “the tubes in question are intended for use as centrifuge rotors.”…State Department,”the tubes Iraq seeks to acquire are poorly suited for use in gas centrifuges.”…the tubes are not intended for use in Iraq’s nuclear weapons program.”
“These doubts…were not conveyed by Administration officials, however. …the aluminum tubes became one of the two pieces of information..to support the claim that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program….[the 5] “made 10 misleading statements in 9 public appearances.
“…Ms. Rice stated on September 8, 2002: ‘We do know that there have been shipments going into…Iraq…of aluminum tubes that …are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs. Vice President Cheney said on September 8, 2002: “[Saddam] now is to be able to enrich uranium to make the bombs…[s]pecifically aluminum tubes.”
[Secretary Powell]:”…Most U.S. experts think they are intended to serve as rotors in centrifuges used to enrich uranium.”
…“We also know that Iraq has tried to obtain high-strength aluminum tubes, which can be used to enrich uranium in centrifuges for a nuclear weapons program.”
“By January 27, 2003, the IAEA..[concluded]..the aluminum tubes ‘would be consistent with the purpose stated by Iraq and, unless modified, would not be suitable for manufacturing centrifuges.”
This then, does end part one of three on the 'Waxman Report' and the statements of the 5 Bush Administration officials who influenced our best and brightest to fighting and dying in Iraq. Part two, of probably three, to follow. There is great difficulty with this site getting on line at joeuser, so please bear with me if it is further delayed due to 'technical' problems with the site. Feel free to comment or e-mail: wahkonta@graffiti.net Click link for full copy verbatim text as this is excerpted for brevity and as per rules of site. Thank you and Blog ON.