As NSA, Condoleeza Rice is to 'perform' her testimony for President Bush' benefit today, April 07, 2004, I am re-posting this series of articles - the only non-pdf formatted excerpts of the 'Waxman Report' - for those who watch along and wish to judge her credibility. At the end of this you'll read specifically about her credibility in relation to the 5 Administration Officials discussed.
This is part 3 of 3 for this blog. For first 2 parts see my blog site archive, or forums.
Approximately three weeks ago a report of false or mis-leading statements [237 of them], 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.
EXCERPT BEGINS
D. Statements about Iraq’s Support of al Qaeda
“Another key component..was the claim..Iraq was supporting al Qaeda claims were disputed by intelligence officials within the Administration…Bush,..Cheney,..Rumsfeld,..Powell,..Rice,..failed to acknowledge these doubts..61 misleading statements..in 52 public appearances.”
“Well before the war, the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate..the U.S. intelligence community had serious doubts about the threat of Iraq arming al Qaeda….the NIE gave..”Low Confidence” “whether in desperation Saddam would share chemical or biological weapons with Al Qa’ida.”…”Baghdad..appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks..fearing..exposure of Iraqi involvement would provide Washington a stronger cause for making war.”
“…Sen. Jeffords, on October 8, 2002, [said]”I have not seen any hard evidence of close cooperation.”
“Sen. Richard J. Durbin said…classified information..did not support the administration’s portrayal of the Iraqi threat. “It’s troubling to have classified information that contradicts statements made by the Administration,”
“Journalists, reported, “[A]t the C.I.A., many analysts believed that Mr. bin Laden saw Mr. Hussein as one of the corrupt secular Arab leaders who should be toppled.”
“Despite the doubts…the 5 Administration officials..asserted,
• November 7, 2002, President Bush stated : “Saddam Hussein is ‘a threat because he is dealing with Al Qaida…[A] true threat facing our country is that an Al Qaida-type network trained and armed by Saddam could attack America and not leave one fingerprint.”
• January 28, 2003, President Bush stated: “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.”
• February 5, 2003, ..Colin Powell: “What I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more sinister nexus between Iraq and the Al Qaeda terrorist network, and nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of murder. Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and associate and collaborator of Usama bin Laden and his al-Qaida lieutenants.”
“Vice President Cheney….stated on September 14, 2003: “With respect to 9/11 of course, we’ve had the story that’s been public out there. The Czechs alleged that Mohammed Atta, the lead attacker, met in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official five months before the attack,…”
“The Vice President’s assertions…omitted key information. ..CIA and FBI concluded before the war,..’the meeting did not take place”;..Czech government officials had ..doubts…American records indicate that Mr. Atta was in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the time of the purported meeting.”
“….January 28, 2004, exchange [between]Sen. Warner and Dr. Kay:
“Any evidence with regard to participation by either Saddam Hussein or his principal henchmen in the WMD-sharing with al Qaeda or any other terrorist organizations?”
Dr. Kay: “Senator Levin – Senator Warner, there is no evidence that I can think of that I know of.”
V. Misleading Statements By Individual Officials
[all told] “President Bush made 55 misleading statements..in 27 separate public statements.”
“Of the 55…4 claimed that Iraq posed an urgent threat; 14 exaggerated Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons; 18 overstated Iraq’s chemical or biological weapons capacity; 19 misrepresented Iraq’s links to al Qaeda.”
“On October 7, 2002, [alone] …Bush made 11 misleading statements about Iraq, the highest number of misleading statements in any single appearance by any of the five officials.”
[President, George Bush:]
• “On its present course, the Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency….It has developed weapons of mass death.”
• “the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
• The liberation of Iraq…removed an ally of al Qaeda.”
• “We found the weapons of mass destruction….[F]or those who say we haven’t found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they’re wrong, we found them.”
B. Vice President Cheney
“Vice President Cheney made 51 misleading statements…in 25 separate public appearances.”
“…1 claimed that Iraq posed and urgent threat; 22 exaggerated Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons; 7 overstated Iraq’s chemical or biological weapons capacity; 21 misrepresented Iraq’s links to al Qaeda.”
Some statements ..by Vice President Cheney:
“[W]e do know, with absolute certainty, that he is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon.”
Saddam Hussein “Had an established relationship with al Qaeda.”
“[W]e believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.”
C. Secretary Rumsfeld
“Secretary Rumsfeld made 52 misleading statements…23 separate public statements or appearances…. 5 claimed that Iraq posed an urgent threat; 18 exaggerated Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons; 21 overstated Iraq’s chemical Iraq’s chemical or biological weapons capacity; 8 misrepresented Iraq’s links to al Qaeda.”
Secretary Rumsfeld:
• “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 to the Al-Qaeda, and somehow the Al-Qaeda were to engage in an attack on the United States…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.”
• “[Saddam Hussein’s]regime…recently was discovered seeking significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
“We said they had a nuclear program. That was never any debate.”
D. Secretary Powell
“Secretary Powell made 50 misleading statements…in 34 separate public statements or appearances….: 1 claimed that Iraq posed an urgent threat; 10 exaggerated Iraq’s chemical or biological weapons capacity; 7 misrepresented Iraq’s links to al Qaeda.
Secretary Powell:
• “Iraq is now concentrating…on developing and testing smaller UAV’s….UAV’s are well suited for dispensing chemical and biological weapons.”
• “The more we wait, the more chance there is for this dictator with clear ties to terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, more time for him to pass a weapon, share a technology, or use these weapons again.”
• “So far, we have found the biological weapons vans that I spoke about when I presented the case to the United Nations on the 5th of February, and there is no doubt in our minds that those vans were designed for only one purpose, and that was to make biological weapons.”
E. National Security Advisor Rice
“Ms. Rice made 29 misleading statements…in 16 separate public statements or appearances….17 concerned Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons; 6 overstated Iraq’s chemical or biological capacity; 6 misrepresented Iraq’s links to al Qaeda.
Ms Rice:
• “We do know that [Saddam Hussein] is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon.”
• “We do know that there have been shipments going into…Iraq, for instance, of aluminum tubes that really are only suited to – high quality aluminum tools that are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs.”
• [T]he declaration fails to account for or explain Iraq’s efforts to get uranium from abroad.”
“Ms. Rice made…more statements that were false -8- than any of the other four officials.
[with regard to outright lies as to the uranium],”Ms. Rice:
• “We did not know at the time – no one knew at the time, in our circles – maybe someone knew down in the bowels of the agency, but no one in our circles knew that there were doubts and suspicions that this might be a forgery.”
• “[H]ad there been even a peep that the agency did not want that sentence in or that George Tenet did not want that sentence in, that the Director of Central Intelligence did not want it in, it would have been gone.”
“These statements were simply false. As explained, the CIA had repeatedly communicated its objections to White House officials, including Ms. Rice.
VI. Conclusion
[Of these five Bush Administration officials, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice.]
“…These five officials repeatedly made misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq . In 125 separate appearances, they made 11 misleading statements about the urgency of Iraq’s threat, 81 misleading statements about Iraq’s nuclear activities, 84 misleading statements about Iraq’s chemical and biological capabilities, and 61 misleading statements about Iraq’s relationship with al qaeda.”
EXCERPT ENDS.
My commentary on this report and its relevance to Condoleeza Rice’ testimony before our Congress, under oath, will follow shortly. Please click on link for verbatim copy verify. Feel free to reply or e-mail: wahkonta@graffiti.net Blog ON.