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The War Card

From: Center for Public Integrity
Length: 06:38

An investigative report about 935 false statements made by top Bush Administration officials. Read the full description.

Bushhead_small President Bush and seven of his top officials made at least 935 false statements in the two years following 9/11 about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, an exhausted examination by the Fund for Independence in Journalism and the Center for Public Integrity shows. This orchestrated campaign was the underpinning of the Bush administration's case for war. This report covers the main findings of this investigation into the Bush administration's false statements. It includes comments from Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the 9/11 commission, explanations from Charles Lewis, the founder of CPI, who initiated this investigation, and excerpts of speeches in which President Bush made false statements about Iraq, Al Qaeda, and weapons of mass destruction. Additional audio of Rep. Robert Wexler, D-FL, questioning Secretary of State Condoleezza Rica about the Center's report.

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Piece Description

President Bush and seven of his top officials made at least 935 false statements in the two years following 9/11 about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, an exhausted examination by the Fund for Independence in Journalism and the Center for Public Integrity shows. This orchestrated campaign was the underpinning of the Bush administration's case for war. This report covers the main findings of this investigation into the Bush administration's false statements. It includes comments from Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the 9/11 commission, explanations from Charles Lewis, the founder of CPI, who initiated this investigation, and excerpts of speeches in which President Bush made false statements about Iraq, Al Qaeda, and weapons of mass destruction. Additional audio of Rep. Robert Wexler, D-FL, questioning Secretary of State Condoleezza Rica about the Center's report.

Broadcast History

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Transcript

The following is a special report from the Center for Public Integrity in Washington. The Center?s latest project is: ?Iraq?The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War.? I?m Bill Buzenberg, the Center?s Executive Director.

This is a report that documents the 935 false statements made by the top eight officials in the Bush Administration in the period leading up to the Iraq War. In each public statement a top official says Iraq either has weapons of mass destruction or that Iraq is linked directly to Al Qaeda.

(Tease Cut? Chuck Lewis)

So these statements seem to rather obviously were orchestrated to galvanize public opinion in the United States and around the world about the need for war in Iraq.

Charles Lewis is the President of the Fund for Independence in Journalism. He is also the founder and former Executive Director of the Center for Public Integrity. Nea...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

Intro 0'00 - 0'16

Additional Files

Related Website

http://www.publicintegrity.org/warcard