False: Bush Claim About Iraqi Biological Labs, WMD

Administration veracity is becoming suspect in regards to claims about Iraq's nuclear weapons capabilities -- both before and after the invasion -- and that loss in credibility could have far-reaching impact.

The Washington Post reports that President Bush claimed weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq two days after a Pentagon-sponsored report made that claim a bunch of hot air. (tip)

Remember 2003?
The President assured us on 29 May 2003 that we had found mobile biological laboratories -- "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The only problem with that (despite the fact that it was false) was that we knew it was false when he said it. (Or should have known.)

A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement...

Meanwhile, for nearly a year, administration and intelligence officials continued to publicly assert that the trailers were weapons factories.

Funny, that bit of evidence about pre- or post-war claims hasn't been declassified.

There seems to be a HUGE disconnect (remember the the 16 words) between the people who write Bush's speeches and the people who know what's up with intelligence. Or do they just not care?

Oh - and the Post article? It's not written by Bob Woodward. Neither was the Sunday piece about Iraq's attempt to get uranium from Niger. A National Intelligence Council memo arrived in January before those 16 words made it into the State of the Union address. That could be because Woodward's contacts are "inner circle" and today's news comes from those in-the-know who are worried about the "inner circle." Kinda like 1972-73.

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