How did the U.S. government lead its people to war?
Rhetoric and Spin
There is No Doubt
In order to gain support for their war policy, the Bush administration claimed to be absolutely certain about vital information about Iraq, presenting themselves as people of authority and confidence whose statements and policies were beyond question.
In fact, within the intelligence community during that period, much of this information was hotly debated and had been cast in doubt – and later proven to be untrue.
Video: THERE IS NO DOUBT
RUMSFELD: We know they have weapons of mass destruction. We know they have active programs. There isn’t any debate about it. [LINK to Bush Claims]
POWELL: We have facts, not speculation.
RUMSFELD: But what we have to do is keep driving back down to the facts. What are the facts? And we’ve attempted to communicate them. And we’ve been careful about what we’ve said. And what we’ve said has been exactly accurate.
BUSH: There’s no doubt in my mind he wants to have a nuclear weapon and he’s got some capacity. [LINK to Bush Claims]
CIA DIRECTOR GEORGE TENET: Sir, I think we will find caches of weapons of mass destruction, absolutely. [LINK to Bush Claims]
CHENEY: Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us. [LINK to Bush Claims]
RUMSFELD: The United States knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. The U.K. knows that they have weapons of mass destruction. Any country on the face of the earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. [LINK to Bush Claims]
[continue to the next section: Using Uncertainty as a Tool to Generate Fear]
