New WMD Report Puts Bush in Hot Water

January 11, 2004

The Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Thursday accused the Bush Administration of systematically exaggerating the threat presented by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

According to a Carnegie Endowment report which took six months to prepare, Iraq posed no threat to the United States and had no WMD program. The influential think tank said that the Bush Administration misrepresented the findings of the United Nations weapons inspectors in a way that turned threats from minor to serious.

The report also noted that Bush Administration officials systematically misrepresented and exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq’s WMD and ballistic missile programs. It concluded that Iraq did not pose a serious threat to world peace or U.S. security.

The Carnegie Foundation also said there was no solid evidence to back the U.S. officials’ claims that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had ties with Al-Qaeda.

As a matter of fact, the Carnegie Endowment report could tarnish the image of U.S. President George W. Bush at home and abroad because the claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction was the main excuse the U.S. used to justify its attack on that country.

U.S. officials tried to use this subterfuge to convince the world to ally with them in the war against Iraq, but had little success. However, the U.S. attacked Iraq anyway and occupied the country.

Over the past few months, U.S. officials have made many fruitless attempts to prove their earlier claims about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction. Yet, they have failed to uncover any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons since the end of the war. Bush himself is being harshly criticized about this issue.

It is a serious matter when U.S. officials are accused of lying in order to influence world public opinion. The Carnegie Endowment report, which revealed the deception, will most probably have a negative impact on Bush’s reelection campaign.

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