The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Nuclear Capabilities:
"We do know that there have been shipments going . . . into Iraq . . . of aluminum tubes that really are only suited to -- high-quality aluminum tools [sic] that are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs."
Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
Explanation This statement was false. The government's most experienced technical experts at the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the tubes were "poorly suited" for this purpose, and intelligence officials at the State Department concurred in this view.
The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Nuclear Capabilities:
"We do know that he is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon."
Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
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
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Nuclear Capabilities:
"We know that he has the infrastructure, nuclear scientists to make a nuclear weapon."
Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
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
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Nuclear Capabilities:
"The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
Explanation This statement was misleading because it starkly evoked a threat of Iraq detonating a nuclear bomb when the intelligence community was deeply divided regarding whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear weapons program.
