Fox is distorting the history of the Bush administration’s WMD claims
Investigative Report Detailing Casualties Of Iraq's Chemical Weapons Released By The New York Times
NYT: Government Played Down Dangers And Withheld Evidence Of Chemical Weapons. The New York Times reported on October 15 that the American government withheld information about discoveries of "long-abandoned" chemical weapons programs in Iraq. The report stated that in 2004, a government analysis of Iraq's weapons programs played down dangers and that U.S. soldiers exposed to nerve agents received "substandard medical care":
The United States had gone to war declaring it must destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program. Instead, American troops gradually found and ultimately suffered from the remnants of long-abandoned programs, built in close collaboration with the West. [The New York Times, 10/14/14]
Fox's The Five Uses The NYT Report To MisrepresentBush Administration's Rationale For The Iraq War
Dana Perino: George W. Bush Never Said We Went To War Over A New Weapons Program. Co-host Dana Perino claimed that The New York Times was "trying to rewrite history" by attempting to convince people "that George W. Bush went to war thinking that Saddam Hussein had a new weapons program." Perino then declared "he never said that." [Fox News, The Five, 10/15/14]
Eric Bolling: "Don't Say They Went To War For Weapons Of Mass Destruction." Eric Bolling echoed Perino, saying, "who cares if there was a weapon of mass destruction or not. [Saddam Hussein] was bad, he killed his own people." When Bob Beckel questioned whether that means we should go to war with all bad people, Bolling clarified, "Fine, have that debate, but don't say they went to war for weapons of mass destruction. [Fox News, The Five, 10/15/14]
Bob Beckel: "They Didn't Go To War For A New Program" But Because They Had "The Ability To Build" WMD. Bob Beckel claimed that "Colin Powell went to the UN and said that there is the, they have the ability to build these things," not because there was a new weapons program. [Fox News, The Five, 10/15/14]
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