FACT CHECK: Rove Deputy Peddling False Claims About Pre-War Iraq Intelligence
FACT CHECK: Rove Deputy Peddling False Claims About Pre-War Iraq Intelligence
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Peter Wehner, Karl Rove’s deputy and the director of the White House’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, writes an op-ed attempting to debunk “antiwar myths.” The White House has been emailing the article to reporters this morning. Employing the same tactic that led the nation into war, the White House continues to use the media to peddle false claims in the hopes they will be accepted. Below is a debunk of their debunk:
1) To rebut the “myth†that “The president misled Americans to convince them to go to war,†Wehner claims, “Important assumptions turned out wrong; but mistakenly relying on faulty intelligence is a world apart from lying about it.â€
FACT: Administration Created Stovepipes To Feed Politicized Intelligence. In his nomination hearing last week, Gen. Michael Hayden admitted that he “wasn’t comfortable†with the administration’s approach to Iraq intelligence. Hayden’s comments reveal that intelligence experts like himself were sidelined in the run-up to the war while political leaders like Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Doug Feith set up intelligence stovepipes to “get the information they wanted directly to the top leadership.â€
FACT: Administration Had Its Sights Set on War Regardless of Intelligence. Despite Bush’s insistence that he didn’t want war, there is overwhelming evidence he made up his mind to go to war well before the intelligence community rendered its judgments.
2) To rebut the “myth†that “The Bush administration pressured intelligence agencies to bias their judgments,†Wehner claims, “This myth is shattered by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s bipartisan Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq.â€
FACT: Roberts Blocking Phase II. The question of whether the administration exerted political pressure over pre-war intelligence was left to Phase II of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation. Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Cover-Up Committee, continues to thwart the completion of the report.
FACT: CIA Review Panel Found Analysts Were Subjected To Pressure. A July 2003 report produced by a “CIA review panel found that agency analysts were subjected to ‘steady and heavy’ requests from administration officials for evidence of links between Iraq and al-Qaida, which created ‘significant pressure on the Intelligence Community to find evidence that supported a connection.’â€
3) To rebut the “myth†that “Because weapons of mass destruction stockpiles weren’t found, Saddam posed no threat,†Wehner states, “[W]hile we did not find stockpiles of WMD in Iraq, what we did find was enough to alarm any sober-minded individual.â€
FACT: Charles Duelfer, the Administration’s Own Iraq Investigator, Found No Evidence That Saddam Posed an Immediate Threat. Duelfer, 10/6/04: “We found no evidence that he was passing to terrorist groups WMD material.†“We found no evidence [of an active nuclear weapons program], nor do we judge that there was one.†“It was my judgment that Iraq retained, perhaps, a strategic reserve — in other words, a deterrent, not an offensive capability.â€
4) To rebut the “myth†that “Promoting democracy in the Middle East is a postwar rationalization,†Wehner states, “President Bush argued for democracy taking root in Iraq before the war began,†citing an example from February 2003.
FACT: Major Iraq Speeches Failed To Mention Democracy. In a major speech on Iraq in October 7, 2002 in Cincinnati, Bush failed to mention his desire to bring “democracy” to Iraq even once. Bush’s 2003 State of the Union failed to mention Bush’s desire to bring “democracy†to Iraq. Instead, Bush spent paragraph after paragraph laying out the false intelligence for going to war.
FACT: Bush Said Disarmament Was Mission In Iraq. Bush, 3/6/03: “Our mission is clear in Iraq. Should we have to go in, our mission is very clear: disarmament. And in order to disarm, it would mean regime change. I’m confident we’ll be able to achieve that objective, in a way that minimizes the loss of life. No doubt there’s risks in any military operation; I know that. But it’s very clear what we intend to do. And our mission won’t change. Our mission is precisely what I just stated. We have got a plan that will achieve that mission, should we need to send forces in.â€
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Not too intelligent.
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:29 pmI’ll give them one thing — they don’t give up no matter how outgunned they are
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:33 pmSo, who do “we” —-the majority of the American people, progressives, and Democrats have sending “letters” to news organizations? Shouldn’t these “news”organizations be getting multiple letters from mulitple sources? The White House is just one more group…they don’t represent us….so who’s gonna send our “letters” to the media……. Hmmmm? How about mediamatters? They do good fact checking. :)
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:34 pmI just can’t wait for the proper post to add this little trivia question:
Of the ten Congressmen found guilty, indicted, and/or suspected of wrongdoing (Delay(R), Ney (R), Lewis (R), Jefferson (D), Hunter (R), Goode (R), Pombo (R), Doolittle (R), Weldon (R), Cunningham (R)), whose Congressional Office the FBI break into and search? Nine to one says you will coincidentally pick the right answer.
Click on Clyde!
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:36 pmSo they’re grand plan is to debunk myth with … myth?
That’s like a doctor saying, “Sorry, sir, but you have lung cancer. To cure it, we’re going to give you liver cancer.”
The interesting part now is to see which media outlets publish the crap they’re spewing without question. While I know at least one will do so, I wonder how many others will follow suit.
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:37 pmApoligists for the executive branch like to say that something like warrantless wiretapping should not be a concern for Americans who don’t have something to hide, but they then try to make us believe that a real investigation into pre-war intelligence is inappropriate. Pat Roberts, what are you trying to hide?
NSA: Please send me your catalog number for this message. Thanks.
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:39 pmYou also didnt mention that the CIA warned the White House not to include the false info in Bush speeches and they did it anyway including in the SOTU.
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:58 pmWill they ever give up? We’ve figured this out by now: Bush, Cheney and Co. LIED about the Iraq intel. This is a FACT, as TP has so nicely pointed out.
http://www.lcoliberal.blogspot.com
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:05 pmThe latest bombast form religious right wackos: Right now on LCL
Destroy them with their own words and actions.
Downing street timeline skewers all of their lies with COLD HARD FACTS spewed from their own lying mouths.
READ IT
KNOW IT
USE IT
These criminals need to stew in their own juices and be drowned out with REALITY.
http://downingstreetmemo.com/timeline/
and
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/index.html
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:08 pmFrom the Journal piece:
“Most of the world was operating from essentially the same set of assumptions regarding Iraq’s WMD capabilities. Important assumptions turned out wrong; but mistakenly relying on faulty intelligence is a world apart from lying about it.”
But were they working from the same set of assumptions? I seem to remember a list of weapons and related items, supplied by Saddam prior to the invasion, that was fourteen thousand pages long. But when the U.S. turned it over to the U.N., ELEVEN THOUSAND pages were missing.
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:12 pmI have this image in my mind of a derelict, burning and sinking ship infested with rats scrambling to find anything which might float …………………
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:13 pm#8… No they will never give up. They have lied for so long, they don’t know any other way. Like someone pointed out in a previous thread, Bush in a recent interview laughs, reporter says “your laughing” Bush, “no i’m not” Lying is like crack to these snakes. Hang ‘em all!
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:22 pmAnyone associated with Karl Rove is a liar and a criminal, so anything that Rove agent spews is baloney!
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:34 pmDon’t get his self-impaling line
In addition, no serious person would justify a war based on information he knows to be false and which would be shown to be false within months after the war concluded. It is not as if the WMD stockpile question was one that wasn’t going to be answered for a century to come.
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:34 pmThis just in:
CNN
May 23, 2006
Source: Theft of vets’ data kept secret for 19 days
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/23/vets.data/index.html
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Peter Wehner: I’m trying not to confuse the issue with facts.
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:41 pm#15 – 19 days? Nice little head start for the thieves…
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:43 pmBut…but…but…
Bush and the Republicans keep telling us to stop asking questions about the intelligence used in the decision to invade Iraq. They tell us it’s no longer important. They tell us that what matters now is that we are there and we aren’t leaving until we achieve victory.
On top of that we have Mr. Rove telling us that the RNC’s polls show that over 60% of America approves of Mr. Bush.
Yet here is a member of the administration still trying to sell this war to the American public 3+ years after it started.
So what is the problem?
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:50 pmI anyone surprised by this? Really, they have been lying to us for 5 1/2 years, why stop now?
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:52 pmAnd let’s not forget this:
Kevin Martin, Chariman of the FCC sent a letter to Edward Markey, letting him know that the FCC not investigate AT&T giving phone records to the NSA.
May 23, 2006
http://democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/FCCNSA.pdf
May 23, 2006
FCC Refuses to Investigate NSA Program, Predicting Likely Administration Road Blocks
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1610&Itemid=125
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:58 pm
#15
Next question:
Has the government contacted the affected vets and alerted them that their information was stolen, and if not, how much longer will they wait? Another 3 weeks?
And to Zookeeper (#17), that’s the bad thing. As someone who has been the victim of identity theft, I can attest that every second counts in these matters.
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:00 pmThe whole and complete truth will eventually come out, even if we have to wait for the next administration. I dont believe there is a statute of limitations to be charged with war crimes. Faulty intel is completely different than cherry-picking and ignoring intel to make it back up your desire to go to war.
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:00 pmI think the Social Security numbers of the Veterans were stolen for illegal immigrants from Mexico to get employment > sounds like an inside job by Bush agents to me > gives them cover for millions of Latinos!
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:01 pmWC,
Considering I am a veteran and have not received a call, a letter, nothing. I would say the answer is no. This directly affects all three of the people in my department, all of whom are vets like myself.
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:05 pmAnyone who finds out that their Social Security number has been used by a non-American to get imployment should sue the Bush Administration for gross negligence and theft of their personal identification information!
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:13 pmThis is great evidence that Karl Rove will soon be indicted. After all, a Rove indictment will cause the media to reexamine the justification for war. Rove’s deputy appears to be getting ahead of the inevitable onslaught.
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:13 pmEmployment not imployment > typo mistake!
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:14 pm#24
Just as I thought. Even if your info wasn’t part of that which was stolen, you should at least get a letter informing you of this fact.
The question now is, what did they do for those 19 days? Did they work diligently to find out the names that were stolen and limit any damage? My guess is “probably not.” If not, it’s going to take probably a few more days at the very least to compile the list and send out letters to everyone. As some troll announced on another thread, the affected veterans can contact the credit bureaus and put a block on their information, but how many will wait around until they receive confirmation from the Veterans Administration? And on top of that, factor in how much time has already been wasted, as Zoo points out…
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:18 pmMore of the same facsist bullshit. What is it going to take to impeach this lot? There are several smoking guns, but no one is willing to act on these criminal activities. No, rather than do their job, DOJ just threatens journalists with prosecution if the leak some information. I wouldn’t doubt the VA job was tied NSA, CIA, or FBI, they say an employee, but no name yet? This will be another situation just like the phone number give away that FCC won’t touch, neither will anyone touch the vet files.
Ironic, this is exactly what these guys fought for, personal freedom, liberty and democracy. They are all a thing of the past thanks to the neo-nazi cabel running the country.
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:51 pmDamn you have to register to get the secret to this ambrosia. Whatever I am going to do now, (sigh) (sob).
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:40 pm“FACT: Administration Created Stovepipes To Feed Politicized Intelligence.”
The metaphor is mixed up, Think.
Stovepiping is a term in AGRICULTURE, specifically in onion farming.
Rotten onions are stovepiped into the middle of a bag of good onions, so that when onion bags are seen in the market, they look good on the outside.
It’s not, thereby, a method of getting political lies to the liars — it’s hiding rotten political lies within appearanaces of truth.
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:44 pmIt’s hiding rotten political lies within appearanaces of truth… to make weight.
With fascists, making weight is only useful because it allows them to avoid authoritarian violence. But they certainly have the violence in reserve.
I think these bastards are toast. We must make this case, over and over, until they get stuck on the facts and can’t pretend. And then we have to survive their violence until their political power collapses under its strain.
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:49 pmI like the fact that Wehner entitled his op-ed “Revisionist History.”
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:49 pmI believe that qualifies as a Freudian slip.
As Think Progress pointed out yesterday, the upcoming US Census report shows that 24.5 million veterans live in the United States.
26.5 million records were stolen. That mean they most likely got information on every single veteran that lives in the United States and the records for another 2 million that live outside the United States.
So, I and the 3 others in my department believe our records were jeopardized.
All veterans. That is why this was hidden. It is everybody who has served in the military since 1975.
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:59 pm#21 – WC, I’m so sorry you had to go through identity theft. Its one of the things that scares me most. I worked hard over the years to maintain my great credit, and some ass can come in and ruin it all. Most of the cases I’ve come across have been spouses stealing each others identity, or worse, parents stealing their child’s identity. Nice, eh?
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:08 pm[...] Think Progress [...]
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:11 pmI sent the WSJ my response. I don’t expect it to be displayed. Too many facts. Just for fun take a look at the idiotic responses they did display.
Hey, we’re all crazy because everyting in Iraq is great. We lie lie lie. Bad crazy dems.
It’s not even slightly convincing.
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:12 pm#34
All veterans. That is why this was hidden. It is everybody who has served in the military since 1975.
Comment by Spudge_Boy
I feel left out and like I just don’t count any more. I am a veteran and have been for over 50 years. Maybe my identity is just too old to steal.
Oh! To be young again! No Way–I don’t want to live through Queen George the Dumb more than I have to.
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:40 pmTP says the White House is
“Employing the same tactic that led the nation into war, the White House continues to use the media to peddle false claims in the hopes they will be accepted.”
Oh, kind of like the Clinton Administration did during the Iraq Chrisis in the 90’s right? You know all of that talk about WMD and why we had to bomb them and kill 500,000 children with fake sanctions that didn’t prevent Saddam’s capability to produce WMD and allowed him to commit mass murder. What we have here are a bunch of dishonest partisan hacks who forget that Clinton was telling us the same lies.
Here we have William Cohen preparing the nation for military action against Saddam’s Iraq on ABC This Week in 1997:
William Cohen: We, the United Nations, those in the Security Council, those of
our allies who would be in support of this [military action], we have to remember, this is not
Saddam against the United States. This is Saddam against the United Nations and
the world. That’s what we have to keep remembering and reminding people of — not
allow him to turn this into, let’s just kick the U.S. out and everything will be
OK. This is really a threat that is global in nature and not confined to the
United States.
Sam Donaldson: I understand, Mr. Secretary. But you’re a keen student of
American politics, also. At the moment, there seems to be overwhelming support
for not allowing Saddam to get away with this.
William Cohen: Right.
Sam Donaldson: In fact, one Newsweek poll says, that if he shot down one of our
U-2s, 82 percent of the public would want to response. But if it drags on, at
some point, isn’t the public likely to say, the Clinton administration is a
paper tiger?
William Cohen: First of all, we shouldn’t formulate either foreign or defense
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:46 pmpolicy based upon public opinion polls. They tend to shift rather radically from
time to time depending upon the circumstances.
I might point out that had we depended upon public opinion polls back in 1991,
President Bush might not have had the ability to go in and do what had to be
done to evict Iraqis out of Kuwait.
I think it’s important that we have American public support for action, if it
becomes necessary. But we shouldn’t allow the public opinion polls to drive
whatever decision the president is going to make.
I sense a repub. implosion of some sort on the near horizon.
May 23rd, 2006 at 6:06 pmTheir lies are coming apart at the seams.
As the song says . . . ’some-thin’s got to give’.
There are so many lies in Faiz’s so-called rebuttal it’s laugh out loud funny. This one takes the cake:
In a major speech on Iraq in October 7, 2002 in Cincinnati, Bush failed to mention his desire to bring “democracy†to Iraq even once.
Well I’m sorry Faiz. It’s easy to fool the gullible TP libs, but Bush did speak of bringing freedom to Iraqis in that speech (and many others):
“America believes that all people are entitled to hope and human
May 23rd, 2006 at 7:17 pmrights, to the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. People
everywhere prefer freedom to slavery; prosperity to squalor;
self-government to the rule of terror and torture. America is a
friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the
regime that enslaves them and threatens us. When these demands are
met, the first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women
and children. The oppression of Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans, Shi’a,
Sunnis and others will be lifted. The long captivity of Iraq will
end, and an era of new hope will begin.
Iraq is a land rich in culture, resources, and talent. Freed from
the weight of oppression, Iraq’s people will be able to share in the
progress and prosperity of our time. If military action is
necessary, the United States and our allies will help the Iraqi
people rebuild their economy, and create the institutions of liberty
in a unified Iraq at peace with its neighbors.”
Noticing that the byline on the bottom of the article was an insider..
May 23rd, 2006 at 7:27 pm#41
Our demands are directed only at the
regime that enslaves them and threatens us.
Comment by Infinite Reach
Reach, generally you are reaching but this time you are right (no pun intended) on.
The only problem is that I suspect you and I have different regimes in mind.
The problem will go away when the Bush regime gets the hell out of Iraq and Iran. If they want to fight for oil let it be in the land of Bush’s buddies–Saudi.
May 23rd, 2006 at 7:28 pmToday the FCC refused to commence an investigation or respond to Rep. Markey’s questions, citing the Bush Administration’s likely claim of “states secrets privilege.â€
Huh? Why not ask them, rather than assume the outcome?…. Oh. yeah, sorry, I forgot who I was dealing with. The entire maladministration’s job is just to carry water for the Doofus-In-Chief’s illegalities….
Where’s John Dean when you need him?
Cheers,
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:20 pm#44 Arne,
May 23rd, 2006 at 11:49 pmThere’s an interview with John Dean on wwww.truthout.org this week.
Of course, I think your question really means “Where are people like John Dean? Let’s hope there are some even in this administration.
People everywhere prefer freedom to slavery; prosperity to squalor;
self-government to the rule of terror and torture. America is a
friend to the people of Iraq.
Comment by Infinite Reach #41
Impotent fReak,
…a dose of reality never hurt anyone…
…it’s clear that you have become addicted to Nickelodeon television (”Leave It to Beaver”dom)…
…the tooth fairy visits you quite often…
…and you still believe that the Lone Ranger rides in the hills of Arizona or New Mexico…
…you are a member of that LOST 30% who worship Bushiva and L’il Dick…
…gladly accepting THEIR version of “created reality”…
…YOU (your family and inbred idiots like you) deserve to be “befriended” like the Iraqis have…
…Might I suggest you scroll through TP and find the thread about Congressman Murtha…
…there is a table on that thread which (though inadequately) attempts to shed light on just how much of a “friend” to the Iraqis America really is…
…try and tear your nose away from your Silver Surfer comic book and read it…if you dare…
May 24th, 2006 at 8:19 amYou guys must be running out of tin foil by now.
May 24th, 2006 at 9:38 amWe’ll run out of aluminum foil (check it out, it’s not made of tin anymore) when you guys run out of lies.
May 24th, 2006 at 9:52 amIt seems there is nothing that they WILL NOT do, absolutely NOTHING they WILL NOT DO to keep their version of reality, no matter how far-fetched in circulation long enough for the moron supporters to take it as gospel.
I am really wondering what exactly is going on behind the scenes with the rover investigation. I suspect they are calling in every last scull and bones favor in order to keep the dictator and his flying monkeys safe from prosecution. One theory is that rover is throwing Krash-Kart-Cheney under the bus to keep his own skin safe. I think that is a safe bet. As it contains rovers M.O. all over it.
One quote that keeps coming back to me from Gore on the stolen election in 2000:
“There may come a time when I speak on that, but it’s not now; I need more time to frame it carefully if I do. In our system, there’s no intermediate step between a definitive Supreme Court decision and violent revolution.”5/23/06
That leads me to the conclusion that Gore knows that this so called administration is a fraud. As most enlightened people do. And he knows if he tells the truth not only will the dictator be removed but it may well end up as a central-American style revolution.
I say power to the people, and chunk the chimp.
May 24th, 2006 at 12:39 pm[Faiz's Point 4, "Promoting Democracy", FACT: (quoting Bush, 3/6/03)]
“Should we have to go in, our mission is very clear: disarmament. And in order to disarm, it would mean regime change.”
Which “Regime change” would ideally have led to the installation of someone like Ahmed Chalabi as president by acclamation, with plenty of time to consider democracy later.
There’s more here on the State Department’s “Future of Iraq Project” which did plan ahead, in some detail, for democracy in Iraq but was largely ignored in the end: Preparing for Post-Saddam Iraq: Plans and Actions, Charles Patterson, October 27, 2004
Wehner, concluding his WSJ remarks, complains:
“And what a strange world it is: For many antiwar critics, the president is faulted for the war, and he, not the former dictator of Iraq, inspires rage. The liberator rather than the oppressor provokes hatred. It is as if we have stepped through the political looking glass…”
…into Saddam’s shoes.
May 24th, 2006 at 4:30 pm