Lies & Lying Liars

We have all known for a long time that many lies were told, but now it has been quantified. During the last two elections, the Center for Public Integrity had a feature called "Buying of the President," which told how much various campaigns earned and spent. As far as I know, their studies have been reputable, so it was amazing to finally see this in print. Here is The War Card, from their website. Sparrow has posted references to this at least twice since the study came out, and some of you may be aware enough, but we need to keep spreading the word.

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks. The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses." It was posted on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel refused to comment on it.

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."

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

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.

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 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," the study concluded.

"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," it said.

Center for Public Integrity
Fund for Independence in Journalism

BREAKING: Richard Clarke wrote an article for the Philadelphia Inquirer called "Setting a Standard in Fear Mongering." Clarke is former head of counterterrorism at the National Security Council. He left government primarily because of the administration's misleading rhetoric in taking us to war. He discusses untruths and distortions in Bush's final State of the Union Address. Bush overstated success in Afghanistan, painted a rosy future for Iraq, touted unfinished domestic projects, and used his fear tactic to scare Congress and the American people, particularly with respect to FISA. There is more at the link, highly recommended reading, as Clarke is one of the few people for whom I have bothered to turn on television, as I shudder to think what he has witnessed.

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all photos by D. Grieser & R. Schlaugh Silenced Majority Portal