Analysis of Public Statements made by Secretary of State Colin Powell
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| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of State Colin Powell on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "With respect to nuclear weapons, we are quite confident that he continues to try to pursue the technology that would allow him to develop a nuclear weapon." |
| Source: Interview by Tony Snow and Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/8/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program. | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of State Colin Powell on Chemical and Biological Weapons: |
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| "SECRETARY POWELL: We know that he has been working hard on developing a means to disseminate those [chemical and biological] weapons. He had artillery, he had rockets, and I'm sure he is looking at other technologies. We have evidence that he has been looking at aerial vehicles. QUESTION: Drones? SECRETARY POWELL: Drones." |
| Source: Interview by Tony Snow and Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/8/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it evoked a threat of Iraq using UAVs to spread biological and chemical agents, but failed to mention that the U.S. government agency most knowledgeable about UAVs and their potential applications, the Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, had the following view: the "U.S. Air Force does not agree that Iraq is developing UAVs primarily intended to be delivery platforms for chemical and biological (CBW) agents." | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of State Colin Powell on Chemical and Biological Weapons: |
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| "QUESTION: I want to get to all that, but still a couple more questions on his capabilities. If he were able to deploy right now his chemical and biological stocks, how many people could he kill? SECRETARY POWELL: I don't know. It depends on how he deployed them, where he deployed them. Chemical weapons are different from biological weapons. And let's just recognize the fact that he has them, he has used them before, and he has killed thousands of people in their use." |
| Source: Interview by Tony Snow and Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/8/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it professed certainty when the intelligence community provided only an "estimate." According to CIA Director George Tenet, "it is important to underline the word estimate. Because not everything we analyze can be known to a standard of absolute proof." In addition, the statement failed to acknowledge the Defense Intelligence Agency position that: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or where Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of State Colin Powell on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "People should be nervous about the fact that there is a country such as Iraq with all that wealth available to it through oil, that is using that wealth to develop chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons, if they could get their hands on them, in order to threaten innocent people throughout the Persian Gulf region, and in due course perhaps even threaten us here, this far away." |
| Source: CTV News Interview, CTV (6/13/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program. In addition, it failed to acknowledge the Defense Intelligence Agency position that: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or where Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
|
| Secretary of State Colin Powell on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "What we have said to our Arab friends is you may not see Saddam Hussein the same way we do, but you ought to, because those weapons of mass destruction that he is developing -- chemical, biological, nuclear -- they're more likely than not directed at one of you than us." |
| Source: Interview by Scott Pelley on CBS's 60 Minutes II (as aired), CBS (4/3/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program. In addition, it failed to acknowledge the Defense Intelligence Agency position that: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or where Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." | | |
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