Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
False evidence? I'm highly curious what false evidence they manufactured in order to sell the war.
...
And yet, even with that information out on the internet for people to read....some still beat the old 'manufactured false evidence' drum.
|
Well, just by searching "false evidence Iraq war" on Google, the very first page that came up (from CNN, go figure) had some direct quotes from Bush in which he makes claims that were later found to be false, like:
"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States."
"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
"Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons."
Notice that none of these statements are qualified - there's no "we believe" or "sources indicate". In the second statement there is even a "leaves no doubt" to drive home his entirely mendacious claim, as there was not only plenty of doubt, but a preponderance of evidence to the contrary that the administration chose to ignore.
Now in my view, claiming you have proof of something that turns out to be completely wrong, is manufacturing evidence. "Proof" implies "evidence", and since there was no evidence other than misinterpretation of sources that were questionable to begin with, that is, in the common parlance, "making sh*t up".
As far as the link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, Rice claimed there were organizational-level links between the two in direct denial of a Senate report released BEFORE her statement that no such links existed. The only "link" between the two was that one member of Al-Qaeda planned some operations while in Iraq, however this is about as relevant as claiming that Al-Qaeda and Canada are bosum buddies because some of the 9/11 highjackers used Canada as a staging point to get into the US.