Laboratories of Mass Deception

(Received in email from American Progress)

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The Washington Post reported an explosive story yesterday revealing for the first time that the Bush administration had authoritative evidence in late May 2003 indicating that two trailers found in Iraq were not the long-sought mobile "biological laboratories.? A technical team commissioned by the Pentagon reported back that the supposed bio labs were not WMD production facilities at all. And yet, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other high-level administration officials repeatedly peddled false claims about Iraq 's biological weapons labs for months after this report was sent to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). President Bush, whose credibility is damaged seemingly on a daily basis, must again confront the question: What did he know and when did he know it.

A HISTORICAL RECAP: In Jan. 2003, Bush declared in his State of the Union address that Iraq possessed "several mobile biological weapons labs? which were "designed to produce germ warfare agents.? Just a few days later, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell reiterated the claim at the United Nations: "One of the most worrisome things that emerges from the thick intelligence file we have on Iraq 's biological weapons is the existence of mobile production facilities used to make biological agents.? A few weeks into the war, the supposed WMD production facilities failed to turn up. In early May 2003, Bush stood before a banner declaring "mission accomplished? in Iraq , but one major question still lingered. As CNN White House correspondent John King put it (5/1/03), "If the mission is accomplished where are the weapons of mass destruction?? To address this question, the administration produced an intelligence report a few days later claiming that two biological weapons labs had been found in Iraq , thus allowing Bush to falsely inform the world, "We found the weapons of mass destruction.? In Sept. 2004, after an "exhaustive investigation,? the Bush-commissioned Iraq Survey Group finally debunked the false claim, reporting that "no evidence? could be found of mobile biological production units. The question turned to what the administration knew and when they knew it. The Post story provides the first evidence that the administration was aware that claims about the bio labs were false.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION PEDDLED FALSE MYTH: The Post reported that a special Pentagon-commissioned technical team of experts, composed of scientists and engineers, concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons and "transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003.? Over the next few months, Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, and others continued to peddle the discounted claim that Iraq possessed biological weapons labs. These administration figures never indicated there were doubts about the laboratories. Powell said, "There is no question in our mind what their purpose was. Nobody has come up with an alternative purpose that makes sense.? But in fact, the technical team unequivocally reported its conclusion that the trailers were not intended to manufacture biological weapons. "There was no connection to anything biological," said one expert who studied the trailers. Still, as late as Jan. 2004, Cheney declared, "We've found a couple of semi trailers at this point which we believe were, in fact, part of that program. I would deem that conclusive evidence, if you will, that he did, in fact, have programs for weapons of mass destruction.?

BLAME THE PRESS: Faced with stunning evidence that high-level administration figures continued to push information that had been contradicted by official intelligence reports, the White House yesterday turned its guns on the press. Press Secretary Scott McClellan demanded a public apology from the news media for its coverage of the story. "It's an embarrassment that the media is out there reporting this.? McClellan criticized the Post article as "reckless" for creating an "impression" that Bush had knowingly misled the American public. In truth, the Post story never suggested Bush was aware of the findings, and that question remains unresolved. McClellan had a chance yesterday to confront this issue and put it to rest, but he could not: "n terms of your specific question in terms of if and when the White House became aware of this particular issue, I'm looking into that matter,? he said. Some media reports have incorrectly reported that the White House denies Bush was aware of the technical team's report.

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