The Lie That Won't Die
I was zipping up to the supermarket wednesday morn, listening to the irascible Imus mix it up with the lamia Mary Matalin. He was calling her on Bush’s latest whopper that he quit golfing back in 2003 out of respect for the troops he banana balled into the unplayable lie of Iraq. She said her former boss is a perfect truth teller. Imus said Bush bullshitted us into the war with Iraq. She responded that everyone agreed that Saddam had WMD and challenged Imus to name just one world leader or intelligence agency that had said otherwise. Unprepared, he couldn’t.

Yahoos never quit flogging this fabrication. They don’t know or don’t care about the memory drives and video discs crammed with au contraire info. Since it still comes up, and will no doubt be an issue as we warm up for war on Iran, here’s some of what was said about the weapons in Iraq before the war began back in March, 2003:

*Iraq is no threat--Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisior Condoleezza Rice, February/July 2001

* While suspicions remain, no evidence has been given that Iraq still possesses weapons of mass destruction or capabilities in this field. Inspections have just reached their full pace; they are functioning without hindrance; they have already produced results--French/German/Russian Memorandum to UN, 2/24/03

* How much, if any, is left of the Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and related proscribed items and programs? So far, UNMOVIC has not found any such weapons -- Hans Blix, Chief UN inspector, 2/14/03

* We have to date found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq. However...a number of issues are still under investigation and we are not yet in a position to reach a conclusion about them--Mohammed ElBaradei, Head of IAEA, 2/14/03

* Are there nuclear arms in Iraq? I don't think so. Are there other weapons of mass destruction? That's probable. We have to find and destroy them. In its current situation, does Iraq—controlled and inspected as it is—pose a clear and present danger to the region? I don't believe so. Given that, I prefer to continue along the path laid out by the Security Council. Then we'll see--French president Jacques Chirac, Time, 2/24/03


* We reiterate our full support for the ongoing work of U.N. inspectors. They must be given the time and resources that the U.N. Security Council believes they need--European Union Declaration, 2/18/03

* UN arms inspectors are privately complaining about the quality of US intelligence and accusing the United States of sending them on wild-goose chases...The inspectors have become so frustrated trying to chase down unspecific or ambiguous US leads that they've begun to express that anger privately in no uncertain terms--CBS News, 2/18/03

* UN sources have told CBS News that American tips have lead to one dead end after another. And whatever intelligence has been provided has turned out to be circumstantial, outdated or just plain wrong--CBS News, 2/20/03

* The intelligence inspectors were receiving from the US was referred to as garbage after garbage after garbage... It took a long time for the US to hand over intelligence in the first place and when they did it has proved to be highly inaccurate... Intelligence is circumstantial, outdated or completely wrong. It's wasting our time and our resources...Frankly, we have better things to do than run around the country chasing bogus so-called evidence--unnamed UN weapons inspector to London Daily Mirror, 2/22/03.

* Joern Siljeholm, UN weapons inspector: We received much incomplete and poor intelligence information from the Americans, and our cooperation developed accordingly. Much of what has been claimed about WMDs has proven to be sheer nonsense. From what I have seen they are going to war on very little--Aftenposten of Norway, 6/10/03

* The intelligence community made all kinds of errors and handled things sloppily. Some of the old-timers in the community are appalled by how bad the analysis was, the official said. If you look at them side by side, CIA versus United Nations, the UN agencies come out ahead across the board. — The New Yorker, 10/20/03