Group Counts 932 Falsehoods in Runup to War

President Bush and top administration officials made hundreds of false statements—932, to be exact—about the national security threat from Iraq following 9/11, report two nonprofit journalism organizations. In the two years after the attacks, Bush and top officials stated at least 532 times that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, was trying to make or get them, or was linked to al-Qaeda, the study found.

The statements “were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses,” conclude authors of the study posted yesterday on the website of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism. Researchers examined public statements, government reports, books, articles, and interviews after 9/11. (More Iraq stories.)