Thank you, Rep. Waxman, for preserving 29 Rice lies in database amber

Displaying all statements of 29 statement(s) found

http://www.house.gov/reform/min/features/iraq_on_the_record/


Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"On nuclear there was dissent on the extent of the program and how far along the program might be. How much had he gone to reconstitute? But the judgment of the intelligence community was that he had kept in place his infrastructure, that he was trying to procure items. For instance, there's been a lot of talk about the aluminum tubes but they were prohibited on the list of the nuclear suppliers group for a reason."

Source: Meet the Press, NBC (9/28/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq sought aluminum tubes for use in its nuclear weapons program, failing to mention that the government’s most experienced technical experts at the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the tubes were "poorly suited" for this purpose.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Saddam Hussein -- no one has said that there is evidence that Saddam Hussein directed or controlled 9/11, but let's be very clear, he had ties to al-Qaeda, he had al-Qaeda operatives who had operated out of Baghdad."

Source: Meet the Press, NBC (9/28/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"QUESTION: Do you believe, because this is continually a subject of debate, that there was a link between al Qaeda and the regime of Saddam Hussein before the war? MS. RICE: Absolutely. . . . But we know that there was training of al Qaeda in chemical and perhaps biological warfare. We know that the Zarqawi was network out of there, this poisons network that was trying to spread poisons throughout . . . . And there was an Ansar al-Islam, which appears also to try to be operating in Iraq. So yes, the al Qaeda link was there."

Source: Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/7/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship. This statement also failed to mention that Ansar al-Islam was based in the Kurdish area of Iraq beyond Saddam Hussein's control.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Going into the war against Iraq, we had very strong intelligence. I've been in this business for 20 years. And some of the strongest intelligence cases that I've seen, key judments by our intelligence community that Saddam Hussein . . . had biological and chemical weapons . . . ."

Source: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice Interview with ZDF German Television, ZDF German Television (7/31/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the Defense Intelligence Agency position that: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or where Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities."






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Going into the war against Iraq, we had very strong intelligence. I've been in this business for 20 years. And some of the strongest intelligence cases that I've seen, key judgments by our intelligence community that Saddam Hussein could have a nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, if left unchecked . . . that he was trying to reconstitute his nuclear program."

Source: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice Interview with ZDF German Television, ZDF German Television (7/31/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program. The statement also failed to mention weeks of intensive inspections conducted directly before the war in which United Nations inspectors found no sign whatsoever of any effort by Iraq to resume its nuclear program.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"e had . . . an active procurement network to procure items, many of which, by the way, were on the prohibited list of the nuclear suppliers group. There's a reason that they were on the prohibited list of the nuclear supplies group: Magnets, balancing machines, yes, aluminum tubes, about which the consensus view was that they were suitable for use in centrifuges to spin material for nuclear weapons."

Source: NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS (7/30/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq sought aluminum tubes for use in its nuclear weapons program, failing to mention that the government’s most experienced technical experts at the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the tubes were "poorly suited" for this purpose.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"My only point is that, in retrospect, knowing that some of the documents underneath may have been--were, indeed, forgeries, and knowing that apparently there were concerns swirling around about this, had we known that at the time, we would not have put it in. . . . And had there been even a peep that the agency did not want that sentence in or that George Tenet did not want that sentence in, that the director of Central Intelligence did not want it in, it would have been gone."

Source: Face the Nation, CBS (7/13/2003).
Explanation: Ms. Rice was responding to questions regarding how the claim that Iraq sought uranium in Africa made it into the President's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address. The statement that the Director of Central Intelligence and the CIA did not object to the claim was false. In October 2002, the CIA expressed doubts about the claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet also warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice’s deputy in October 2002.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"So the process is an NIE that is the basis of this, and then if the Agency had reservations about information that was in the NIE, then the DCI -- and I think he will tell you that if he had reservations, he did not make those known to the President, to the Vice President, or to me -- if he had reservations."

Source: Press Gaggle with Ari Fleischer and Dr. Condoleezza Rice En Route Entebbe, Uganda, White House (7/11/2003).
Explanation: This statement was false. Ms. Rice was claiming in this statement that the doubts intelligence officials had regarding the claim in the National Intelligence Estimate that Iraq sought uranium in Africa were not communicated to her. In fact, following the issuance of the National Intelligence Estimate, the CIA expressed doubts about the uranium claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice. In addition, shortly after the issuance of the NIE, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice's deputy.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"The only thing that was there in the NIE was a kind of a standard INR footnote, which is kind of 59 pages away from the bulk of the NIE. That's the only thing that's there. And you have footnotes all the time in CIA - I mean, in NIEs. So if there was a concern about the underlying intelligence there, the President was unaware of that concern and as was I."

Source: Press Gaggle with Ari Fleischer and Dr. Condoleezza Rice En Route Entebbe, Uganda, White House (7/11/2003).
Explanation: This statement was false. Ms. Rice was claiming in this statement that the doubts intelligence officials had regarding the claim in the National Intelligence Estimate that Iraq sought uranium in Africa were not communicated to her. In fact, following the issuance of the National Intelligence Estimate, the CIA expressed doubts about the uranium claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice. In addition, shortly after the issuance of the NIE, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice's deputy. Further, the fact that INR objected to the NIE's nuclear statements was noted prominently in the first paragraph of the NIE's key judgments.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Now, I can tell you, if the CIA, the Director of Central Intelligence, had said, take this out of the speech, it would have been gone, without question. What we've said subsequently is, knowing what we now know, that some of the Niger documents were apparently forged, we wouldn't have put this in the President's speech - but that's knowing what we know now."

Source: Press Gaggle with Ari Fleischer and Dr. Condoleezza Rice En Route Entebbe, Uganda, White House (7/11/2003).
Explanation: The statement that the CIA did not object to the uranium claim is false. In October 2002, the CIA sent two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice, that raised concerns about the claim. In addition, in October 2002, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice’s deputy.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"he NIE, which, by the way, the Agency was standing by at the time of the . . . State of the Union, and was standing by at the time of the Secretary's speech, has the yellow cake story in it. . . . Now, if there were doubts about the underlying intelligence to that NIE, those doubts were not communicated to the President, to the Vice President, or to me."

Source: Press Gaggle with Ari Fleischer and Dr. Condoleezza Rice En Route Entebbe, Uganda, White House (7/11/2003).
Explanation: This statement was false. Ms. Rice made this statement in response to a question about why Secretary Powell had decided against using in his February 5, 2003, remarks the claim that Iraq sought to acquire uranium whereas the President had used the claim just a week earlier in his State of the Union address. The October 1, 2002, National Intelligence Estimate Ms. Rice referenced in her statement did contain the uranium claim. However, subsequent to the issuance of the NIE, the CIA expressed doubts about the claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice. Shortly after the issuance of the NIE, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet also warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice’s deputy.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"QUESTION: his is what appeared in the Washington Post: "A key piece of evidence linking Iraq to a nuclear weapons program appears to have been fabricated, the United Nations' chief nuclear inspector said in a report that called into question U.S. and British claims about Iraq's secret nuclear ambitions. . . . " In light of that, should the president retract those comments? . . . MS. RICE: The president quoted a British paper. We did not know at the time -- no one knew at the time, in our circles -- maybe someone knew down in the bowels of the agency, but no one in our circles knew that there were doubts and suspicions that this might be a forgery."

Source: Meet the Press, NBC (6/8/2003).
Explanation: The statement that "no one knew" about the doubts regarding the uranium claim was false. The statement contradicts the fact that the CIA in October 2002 had expressed doubts about the uranium claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet in October 2002 also had warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice’s deputy. In addition, the statement contradicts the fact that State Department intelligence officials had stated that this claim was "highly dubious" in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that had been provided to top White House officials.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"And there were other attempts to, to get yellow cake from Africa."

Source: This Week with George Stephanopolous, ABC (6/8/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq sought uranium from Africa despite the fact that the CIA expressed doubts about the credibility of this claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. CIA Director George Tenet also warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice's deputy. In addition, the statement fails to mention that State Department intelligence officials also concluded that this claim was "highly dubious."






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"At the time that the State of the Union address was prepared, there were also other sources that said that they were, the Iraqis were seeking yellow cake, uranium oxide from Africa."

Source: This Week with George Stephanopolous, ABC (6/8/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq sought uranium from Africa despite the fact that the CIA expressed doubts about the credibility of this claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. CIA Director George Tenet also warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice's deputy. In addition, the statement fails to mention that State Department intelligence officials also concluded that this claim was "highly dubious."






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"The intelligence community did not know at that time or at levels that got to us that this, that there was serious questions about this report."

Source: This Week with George Stephanopolous, ABC (6/8/2003).
Explanation: This statement was false. Ms. Rice made this statement in response to the question of how the claim "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" made it into the President's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address. Her statement contradicted the fact that the CIA in October 2002 had expressed doubts about the claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to Ms. Rice. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet also in October 2002 had warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice’s deputy. In addition, Ms. Rice's statement contradicted the fact that State Department intelligence officials had stated that this claim was "highly dubious" in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that had been provided to top White House officials.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Already, we've discovered, uh, uh, trailers, uh, that look remarkably similar to what Colin Powell described in his February 5th speech, biological weapons production facilities."

Source: This Week with George Stephanopolous, ABC (6/8/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"QUESTIONS: You are confident you will find weapons of mass destruction. MS. RICE: We are confident that we -- I believe that we will find them. I think that we have already found important clues like the biological weapons laboratories that look surprisingly like what Colin Powell described in his speech."

Source: Meet the Press, NBC (6/8/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"But let's remember what we've already found. Secretary Powell on February 5th talked about a mobile, biological weapons capability. That has now been found and this is a weapons laboratory trailers capable of making a lot of agent that -- dry agent, dry biological agent that can kill a lot of people. So we are finding these pieces that were described."

Source: Capital Report, CNBC (6/3/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"QUESTION: OK. Let's be careful and precise here, because that's what this whole argument going on right now is about. Do we know that those trailers were used for developing biological weapons? MS. RICE: We know that these trailers look exactly like what was described to us by multiple sources as the capabilities for building or for making biological agents. We know that we have from multiple sources who told us that then and sources who have confirmed it now. Now the Iraqis were not stupid about this. They were able to conceal a lot. They've been able to scrub things down. But I think when the whole picture comes out, we will see that this was an active program."

Source: Capital Report, CNBC (6/3/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"We have found, in Iraq, biological weapons laboratories that look precisely like what Secretary Powell described in his February 5th report to the United Nations."

Source: Dr. Rice Previews the President's Trip to Europe and the Middle East, White House (5/28/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Now the al-Qaida is an organization that's quite disbursed and --and quite widespread in its effects, but it clearly has had links to the Iraqis, not to mention Iraqi links to all kinds of other terrorists. And what we do not want is the day when Saddam Hussein decides that he's had enough of dealing with sanctions, enough of dealing with, quote, unquote, "containment," enough of dealing with America, and it's time to end it on his terms, by transferring one of these weapons, just a little vial of something, to a terrorist for blackmail or for worse."

Source: Face the Nation, CBS (3/9/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship. This statement also was misleading because it evoked the threat of Iraq providing al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction. According to the National Intelligence Estimate, the intelligence community had "low confidence" in that scenario.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"Well, we are, of course, continually learning more about these links between Iraq and al Qaeda, and there is evidence that Secretary Powell did not have the time to talk about. But the core of the story is there in what Secretary Powell talked about. This poisons network with at least two dozen of its operatives operating in Baghdad, a man who is spreading poisons now throughout Europe and into Russia, a man who got medical care in Baghdad despite the fact that the Iraqis were asked to turn him over, training in biological and chemical weapons."

Source: Fox News Sunday, Fox News (2/16/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"QUESTION: Is there any question in your mind about the al Qaeda connection? Did Powell totally convince people today in that area? RICE: There is no question in my mind about the al Qaeda connection. It is a connection that has unfolded, that we're learning more about as we are able to take the testimony of detainees, people who were high up in the al Qaeda organization. And what emerges is a picture of a Saddam Hussein who became impressed with what al Qaeda did after it bombed our embassies in 1998 in Kenya and Tanzania, began to give them assistance in chemical and biological weapons, something that they were having trouble achieving on their own, that harbored a terrorist network under this man Zarqawi, despite the fact that Saddam Hussein was told that Zarqawi was there."

Source: Larry King Live, CNN (2/5/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"For example, the declaration fails to account for or explain Iraq’s efforts to get uranium from abroad . . ."

Source: Why We Know Iraq Is Lying, NYT (1/23/2003).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it suggested that Iraq sought to acquire uranium despite the fact that the CIA expressed doubts about the credibility of this claim in two memos to the White House, including one addressed to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. CIA Director George Tenet also warned against using the claim in a telephone call to Ms. Rice's deputy. In addition, the statement fails to mention that State Department intelligence officials also concluded that this claim was "highly dubious."






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"MS. RICE: There is plenty to indict Saddam Hussein without a direct link to 9/11. He clearly has links to terrorism. QUESTION: All right. And links to terrorism would include al Qaeda? I just want to be certain. MS. RICE: Links to terrorism would include al Qaeda, yes."

Source: Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/15/2002).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was linked to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"We do know that there have been shipments going . . . into Iraq . . . of aluminum tubes that really are only suited to -- high-quality aluminum tools that are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs."

Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
Explanation: This statement was false. The government’s most experienced technical experts at the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the tubes were "poorly suited" for this purpose, and intelligence officials at the State Department concurred in this view.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"We do know that he is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon."

Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"We know that he has the infrastructure, nuclear scientists to make a nuclear weapon."

Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program.






Statement by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
"The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

Source: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN (9/8/2002).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it starkly evoked a threat of Iraq detonating a nuclear bomb when the intelligence community was deeply divided regarding whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear weapons program.



Displaying all statements of 29 statement(s) found