CNN’s Jack Cafferty, on Wednesday’s "The Situation Room," unsurprisingly heralded the study by the Center for Public Integrity that Bush Administration officials made hundreds of false statements in the lead-up to the Iraq war. He did not mention, however, the Center’s funding by various left-wing individuals and foundations, most notably George Soros.
Cafferty, who commented on the study during his regular "Cafferty File" segment eight minutes into the 4 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program, bluntly referred to the supposed "false statements" made by these officials as "lies." He also repeated a line from the study that the "lies" "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses." With that last phrase, one cannot doubt the political leanings of these "nonprofit journalism groups," as Cafferty referred to them.
Before he read his "Question of the Hour," Cafferty lamented the fact that American troops were still in Iraq and that thousands of them had died. "President Bush said that at the time he and other officials made these statements, the U.S. intelligence community and other nations thought Iraq had WMD. But they didn’t. And yet, we’re still there, and almost 4,000 of our troops are dead because of it."
At the end of the hour, when Cafferty read some of the viewers’ answers to his question, he did read one response from a person named Vinny that took him to task not mentioning the Center for Public Integrity by name in his segment and its connection to George Soros.
The full transcript of the "Cafferty File" segment from Wednesday’s "The Situation Room":
JACK CAFFERTY: President Bush and top administration officials publicly made 935 false statements -- that's a polite way to say lies -- about the risk posed by Iraq in the two years following 9/11, according to a study done by two nonprofit journalism groups. The study found President Bush led the pack with 260 lies. But he wasn’t alone. Other officials include: Vice President Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (before she got promoted), and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, among others. The study points to at least 532 times where officials said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to get them or had links to al Qaeda. They say 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 White House called the study 'flawed,' and repeated the administration’s position that the world community saw Saddam Hussein as a threat. President Bush said that at the time he and other officials made these statements, the U.S. intelligence community and other nations thought Iraq had WMD. But they didn’t. And yet, we’re still there, and almost 4,000 of our troops are dead because of it.
Here’s the question: What do you make of a study that shows President Bush and his top aides made 935 false statements about the threat from Iraq in the two years following 9/11? Go to cnn.com/caffertyfile where you can post a comment on my new blog.
