# Bush Administration lying on WMD's- the continuing controversy
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [June 6, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158 "2003-06-06T19:43:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/1 "2003-06-06T19:43:58Z")
Well the topic has strayed far from Colin Powell to Bush, Cheney and the Chickenhawk Express. Next stop, Impeachment Village or One-Term ville?
If you haven’t read it already, check out the numerous Cites provided here to get up to speed:
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=187955&pagenumber=3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=187955&pagenumber=3)
Here is the latest and great Cite for the proposition that the Bush Adminstration was full of shit **from the start** on Iraq.
[http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-06-06-iraq-intel\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-06-06-iraq-intel_x.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> The Pentagon’s intelligence service reported last September that it had no reliable evidence that Iraq had chemical agents in weaponized form, officials said Friday.
> The time frame is notable because it coincided with Bush administration efforts to mount a public case for the urgency of disarming Iraq, by force if necessary. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others argued that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons and was hiding them.
>
> Two months after major fighting in Iraq ended, U.S. officials have yet to find any chemical or other mass-killing weapons, although they still express confidence that some will turn up.
Cites for those new to this (and not willing to go to the old OP):
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12476-2003Jun4.html?nav=hptop\_ts](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12476-2003Jun4.html?nav=hptop_ts)
> **[Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines](https://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=%2Fafp%2F20030603%2Fpl_afp%2Fus_politics_iraq_wmd_030603233019)**
>
> The latest news and headlines from Yahoo! News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.
[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/030609/usnews/9intell.htm](http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/030609/usnews/9intell.htm)
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15019-2003Jun4.html?nav=hptop\_tb](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15019-2003Jun4.html?nav=hptop_tb)
> **[Weapons of mass deception](https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Weapons-of-mass-deception-2578472.php)**
>
> THE BUSH administration faces a growing credibility gap that may turn into one of the most...
> **[Truth test for war's justification](https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Truth-test-for-war-s-justification-1116306.php)**
>
> The justification for going to war against Iraq was the imminent threat its weapons of...
> **[Opinion | Cloaks And Daggers (Published 2003)](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/06/opinion/cloaks-and-daggers.html)**
>
> Nicholas D Kristof Op-Ed column notes continuing lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, even as American intelligence community expresses outrage about way they say their work was manipulated to exaggerate Iraqi threat and drum up...
> **[Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines](https://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=%2Fafp%2F20030606%2Fpl_afp%2Fus_war_iraq_politics_wmd_030606141042)**
>
> The latest news and headlines from Yahoo! News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.
Enjoy!
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### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/2 "2003-06-06T20:28:19Z")
I figured as much. Now the important question: Will this matter come election season, or will Americans be too busy staring slack-jawed at the latest “scandal” to notice?
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### Author:  [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/3 "2003-06-06T20:42:04Z")
We will be too busy invading iran/syria to realize we are getting duped again.
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### Author:  [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/4 "2003-06-06T20:47:20Z")
Why does this seem like one life-size game of Diplomacy 2003?
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### Author:  [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/5 "2003-06-06T20:52:36Z")
Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.
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### Author:  [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/6 "2003-06-06T20:53:09Z")
You have Dowdified\* your quote, **elf6c**. Your OP quoted _USA Today_:
> [@](#):
>
> The Pentagon’s intelligence service reported last September that it had no reliable evidence that Iraq had chemical agents in weaponized form, officials said Friday.
However, the actual quote, with the omitted part added back in red was
> [@](#):
>
> The Pentagon’s intelligence agency had no hard evidence of Iraqi chemical weapons last fall but believed Iraq had a program in place to produce them.
So, your \*USA Today \*cite actually says that the Administration was sincere in their beliefs, albeit possibly mistaken
\*_For an explanation of Dowdification, go [here](http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/Default.aspx) and use the left arrow see the 6/4/2003 cartoon._
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### Author:  [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/7 "2003-06-06T22:11:06Z")
\*\* TIME WILL TELL. Sooner or later the truth will out, no matter what it is. Stay alert, think critically and quit jumping to conclusions.\*\*
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### Author:  [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/8 "2003-06-06T22:12:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Spavined Gelding \*
> \*\*\*\* Stay alert, think critically and quit jumping to conclusions._\* \*\*
too late, i already bought the mat!
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### Author:  [@Hauky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hauky)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/9 "2003-06-07T00:14:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \*
> \*\*too late, i already bought the mat! \*\*
Is yours the revised “lose” edition or the first “loose” edition?
too obscure?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/10 "2003-06-07T00:18:38Z")
So, with **december’s** correction added, we are left with “they don’t have any, but could have them if they wanted to.” Or, alternatively, they were going to have them very soon.
In the first place, there is hardly a country in the world above goat and mud level that cannot produce such weapons if they choose. If Upper Volta wants nerve gas, they can have it. Hence, the capacity to produce such weapons is meaningless.
The claim of immediate threat can only be made if we presume that as soon as Saddam bin Laden had his bad mojo, he would use it on us or someone dear to us instantly. And yet we remain firmly convinced that he already had such. So why hadn’t he used them _already_, if he was so determined to commit _hara-kiri_ by way of infuriating a thermo-nuclear power?
That said, I also voice my displeasure at such quote trimming. We don’t need it, we’ve got the facts. Let \*them \*bullshit.
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### Author:  [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/11 "2003-06-07T01:55:04Z")
If they can’t find the WMDs no scenario is good:
If they weren’t there, then the Bush administration used the worst reasoning to start a war.
If they were there, then just like thar nuclear facility, the hidden WMDFs are vulnerable to being acquired by the terrorists, making the invasion one of the worst follies in military history.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/12 "2003-06-07T02:01:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by december \*
> \*\*So, your \*USA Today \*cite actually says that the Administration was sincere in their beliefs, albeit possibly mistaken
> \*\*
It would be kinda nice if before they did stuff like invading countries, that they had proof. But I guess I’m funny that way; I even believe they need to have proof when a single person is merely on trial (even if the jury’s gut feel is that the person is guilty), let alone invading a country with the inevitable deaths of innocents.
But I guess I’m funny that way.
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### Author:  [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/13 "2003-06-07T02:40:56Z")
What’s really funny is Bush is still going on about how there are WMD’s in Iraq and how **we will find them eventually given enougth time**. If there were WMD’s we would’ve found something by now. Just a couple of days ago (in an article I read) Bush provided some so-called evidence that there were two trailers used to construct illegal bioligical and chemical weapons.
> [@](#):
>
> Thus far, U.S. and British forces have found two truck trailers equipped with fermenters, which the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency said were probably part of a mobile biological weapons production facility. No complete production system has been found. Neither trailer had any biological agent inside, nor showed any sign that they had been used to produce biological weapons. Still, Bush suggested Thursday, as he had in previous days, that those labs helped prove Saddam had built weapons and hid them. “We recently found two mobile biological weapons facilities capable of producing biological agents,” Bush said. “This is a man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder. He knew the inspectors were looking for them. You know better than me, he’s got a big country in which to hide them.”
So, in other words, after a war and months of inspections and searches for WMD’s the only evidence we have is two truck trailers that **might** have been used to create biological and chemical weapons? Yeah, that’s real solid proof there Bush. :rolleyes: It’s pretty obvious that Bush is just grasping at straws at this point.
[Here is a link to the article](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Britain%20Saddam%27s%20Family) where Bush just recently stated there are WMD’s in Iraq.
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### Author:  [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/14 "2003-06-07T02:50:10Z")
Sorry, I accidentally linked to the wrong article. [Here is the correct link to the article where Bush recently stated that there are WMD’s in Iraq.](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Bush)
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/15 "2003-06-07T03:21:40Z")
Producing chemical weapons is about as remarkable an ability as producing shampoo. The following countries could all start producing chemical weapons tomorrow: Canada, Belgium, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ireland, Indonesia, Romania…, you can add 150 more or so. Pretending that “The ability to produce WMDs” is in any way the justification that was used to start this war is a lie. The USA claimed Iraq HAD THEM ALREADY - thousands of them, ready to use almost immediately.
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/16 "2003-06-07T03:26:55Z")
At the very least, Congress should call Rumsfeld to task for misleading the public (and the President?) about intelligence reports lacking hard evidence. And Congress itself has some ‘splainin’ to do about why they abdicated their power on such flimsy evidence.
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### Author:  [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/17 "2003-06-07T03:28:49Z")
Yeah, but **december** ’s got the hots for Dowd, doncha know.
He’ll keep repeating that lie about her distorting quotes until he quits breathing, regardless of how trivial the words omitted from some quote by someone somewhere are.
BTW, even goats pass gas. Don’t know if the stuff stinks, though.
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### Author:  [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/18 "2003-06-07T03:32:14Z")
[Here is more evidence](http://www.msnbc.com/news/923165.asp?vts=060620032015&cp1=1) that the intelligence and reasons the U.S. used to justify this war is BS. The list of evidence just keeps getting longer and longer.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/19 "2003-06-07T08:25:31Z")
And some more as well:
> **[Some Analysts Of Iraq Trailers Reject Germ Use (Published 2003)](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/07/world/some-analysts-of-iraq-trailers-reject-germ-use.html)**
>
> American and British intelligence analysts with direct access to evidence dispute claims that trailers found in Iraq in Apr and May were part of biological warfare program, interviews; say they were more likely intended for other purposes; charge...
“American and British intelligence analysts with direct access to the evidence are disputing claims that the mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making deadly germs. In interviews over the last week, they said the mobile units were more likely intended for other purposes and charged that the evaluation process had been damaged by a rush to judgment…”
Gotta love it.
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### Author:  [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2003, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-lying-on-wmds-the-continuing-controversy/180158/20 "2003-06-07T09:41:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RickJay \*
> \*\*Producing chemical weapons is about as remarkable an ability as producing shampoo. The following countries could all start producing chemical weapons tomorrow: Canada… \*\*
If you combine this with the piece **And that’s the bottom line** quoted above where the key bit of evidence is that the two trailers were equipped with fermenters, and add in the fact that my local brew pub is out of beer and has been for the past week, it gets a little bit frightening to be me.
Beer involves fermentation, and brew pubs make their own beer, and Canada could start producing chemical weapons, and my local isn’t making beer right now. It seems obvious, given the quality of intelligence analysis favoured by Bush and his handlers, that my neighbourhood is an iminent threat to the U.S.
Could somebody please inform the administration that the oil reserves hereabouts are much less useful than those to be found in that Alaskan wildlife refuge? Thanks.
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