Kudos to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and the Dem staff on the House Government Reform Committee for creating an incredibly helpful resource.
The Iraq on the Record Report prepared at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, is a comprehensive examination of the statements made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on Iraq: President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
This database identifies 237 specific misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq made by these five officials in 125 public appearances in the time leading up to and after the commencement of hostilities in Iraq. The search options…can be used to find statements by any combination of speaker, subject, keyword, or date.
This is one useful database. To go back and see just how serious and immediate the White House made the Iraq threat out to be reminds us how very wrong they were.
In describing the need for the resource, Waxman said the research demonstrates a “systemic distortion of the intelligence on Iraq.” The results of the research certainly bolster that conclusion.
It’s like a “greatest hits” package of Bush administration incompetence. Take a look.