Iraq: How Bush administration manipulated public and press

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on January 24, 2008 at 10:58 AM

The Associated Press reported that a study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and his administration issued nearly 1,000 false statements about Iraq’s threat to national security, in the two years following the September 11 attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study counted 935 false statements in the period, and counted 532 occasions on which Bush and officials states unequivocally that Iraq had links with al-Qaida or had (or was producing) weapons of mass destruction.

"In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003," said two staff members of the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

"Some journalists — indeed, even some entire news organizations — have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical,” said the study.

Source: Associated Press through European Journalism Centre

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