Earlier today, former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith refused to appear at a House Judiciary hearing. But while he didn't have the time for Congress, he did have the time to appear on Bill Bennett's radio show this morning.

During the interview, Bennett asked Feith if the Bush administration exaggerated the case for war with "the mushroom clouds and so on." "Did we overstate the case?" asked Bennett. "I think that we did not," replied Feith, though he conceded, "There were errors made in the presentation":

BENNETT: One, did we overstate the case, the mushroom clouds and so on? Was there exaggeration? Not inaccuracy about the weapons, but did we overblow it?

FEITH: I think that we did not. I don't think that administration officials purposely overstated, I do think there were errors made in the presentation and the main error was of course relying on the CIA's assessment that we would find not just the chemical and biological weapons programs, but actual stockpiles.

Feith went on to claim that it is a common misconception that "the Bush administration officials came into office hell bent on war." Listen here:

Feith's claim that there was no "exaggeration" by the White House before the war is yet another example of his misremembering the facts in an effort to save his tattered reputation. In fact, the New York Times article earlier this month on the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the administration's pre-war claims was titled, "Senate Panel Finds Iraq Intelligence Exaggerations."

Here are just a few examples of the exaggerations found by the Senate Intelligence Committee:

- Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa'ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa'ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.

- Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.

- Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq's chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community's uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.

Feith's claim that Bush administration officials were not "hell bent" on war is contradicted by others who served in the administration. For instance, in 2004, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News that "from the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go."

Transcript:

BENNETT: One, uh, I agree with the rationale that you just described for going into the war. It seems like it was more than enough to justify it, legally, morally and every other way. Two questions though. One, did we overstate the case, the mushroom clouds and so on? Was there exaggeration? Not inaccuracy about the weapons, but did we overblow it?

FEITH: I think that we did not. I don't think that administration officials purposely overstated, I do think there were errors made in the presentation and the main error was of course relying on the CIA's assessment that we would find not just the chemical and biological weapons programs, but actual stockpiles.

BENNETT: But that was everybody's assessment, right?

FEITH: That was everybody's...I mean, there were categorical statements made by Carl Levin and Jay Rockefeller and other leading Democratic members of Congress during the Clinton years. And even during the early Bush years, saying the same things that the administration officials said in the George W. Bush administration.

BENNETT: Let me make the liberal...

FEITH: The intelligence did not change. That's an important point. I mean, people sometimes make the argument that the...because the Bush administration officials came into office hell bent on war, which is a common assertion even though it's false, they say that the administration officials manipulated or leaned on the intellgence people. But that's not true. The WMD intelligence.

BENNETT: Right.

FEITH: And other Iraq related intelligence, did not change in substance from the Clinton years to the Bush years.

Source:  Matt of Think Progress

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Edi2or   |2008-06-20 06:27:05 Quote: ‘We Did Not’ Exaggerate Iraq Threat, Just Made ‘Errors’ In Presentation I'm confused! What the hell does that mean. It means you fuckin' lied. End of story. Reply | Quote

Anonymous   |2008-06-24 03:58:19 more lawyer-speak, and if bullshit were snow, this would be a blizzard. Reply | Quote

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