Last update: Monday 12 February 2007 at 21:47:45 [CET].
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You can say anything you want in a debate, and 80 million people hear it. If reporters then document that a candidate spoke untruthfully, so what? Maybe 200 people read it, or 2000 or 20,000. The Right lie with impunity. Let's face it. They're liars. They lied about the reason they took our sons and daughters to war. They spend millions of dollars in campaign ads saying they are for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare while they work to destroy Medicare and replace it with private plans and HMOs. They call their dirty air legislation "Clear Skies" and their plan to give the timber companies our trees, "Healthy Forests." They call their job-killing economic program a "jobs program." They say they are for peace when they are for war. Millions of children are left behind under their miserly "No Child Left Behind" education bill. They tout a child tax credit for working families and then silently drop it in favor of more tax cuts for millionaires.” |
| 9/11 Commission | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
"Today I have signed into law ... the 'Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003,' which authorizes appropriations to fund United States intelligence activities, including activities essential to success in the war against global terrorism," he [President Bush ] said in a formal announcement November 27 [2002]. "This act also establishes the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States to examine and report on the facts and causes relating to the September 11th terrorist attacks." Bush said the independent commission "will help me and future presidents to understand the methods of America's enemies and the nature of the threats we face." |
Even after severe public pressure forced Bush to convene an independent panel, he tried to sandbag the proceedings by appointing accused war criminal and self-proclaimed master of the public lie, Henry Kissinger, as chairman. But Hank exited the scene rather than submit to disclosure rules that would have revealed the extent of his role as bagman for the Saudis and other interested parties. Finally, a less controversial bagman for Saudi interests, Thomas Kean – an oil business partner of Osama bin Laden's financier and brother-in-law, Saudi magnate Khalid bin Mahfouz – was appointed to head the panel. At last it seemed the commission's Establishment worthies could actually get down to work. But one should never underestimate – or even mis-underestimate – the ingenuity of professional liars like the Bush boys. For they quietly found another way to hobble the commission: subjecting the panel members – who were picked, remember, because of their reputations for impeachable probity and public service – to months-long security checks before allowing them access to the secret documents at the heart of the probe, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. –
Is the Bush White House trying to put the brakes on the congressional panel created last fall to investigate 9-11 attacks? Sources tell TIME that the White House brushed off a request quietly made last week by the 9-11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean, the Republican former governor of New Jersey, to boost his budget by $11 million. Kean had sought the funding as part of the $75 billion supplemental spending bill that the president just requested to pay for war with Iraq. Bush's recent move has miffed some members of the 9-11 panel. From
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| Niger-Iraq uranium sale | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
President Bush cited the uranium deal, along with the aluminum tubes, in his State of the Union Message, on January 28th [2003], while crediting Britain as the source of the information: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa [Niger].” He commented, “Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.” – |
On March 7th [2003], Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna, told the U.N. Security Council that the documents involving the Niger-Iraq uranium sale were fakes. “The I.A.E.A. has concluded, with the concurrence of outside experts, that these documents . . . are in fact not authentic,” ElBaradei said. One senior I.A.E.A. official went further. He told me, “These documents are so bad that I cannot imagine that they came from a serious intelligence agency. It depresses me, given the low quality of the documents, that it was not stopped. At the level it reached, I would have expected more checking.” |
| Chemical factory in Iraq | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
Monday, March 24, 1.33am: Reports surface that US forces find first cache of Saddam's chemical and biological weapons, seizing a suspected chemical factory in An Najaf. Fox News and the Jerusalem Post, which had a reporter travelling with US troops, both quote unidentified Pentagon officials who said the facility was seized by US forces. |
Monday, March 24, 2.44pm: General Tommy Franks, head of the coalition forces, claims he "wasn't entirely sure" that it was a chemical factory after all. Fox News forced to back away from the story. Iraq denies it has chemical or biological weapons. |
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| Surrender of the 51st Iraqi infantry division | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
Friday night, March 21: Wires, TV and radio report official claims that coalition commanders have accepted the surrender of the 8,000-strong 51st Iraqi infantry division near the southern city of Basra on Friday. |
Monday, March 24, 3.22am: New York Times wire service: "US officials were quick to announce the surrender of the commander of the 51st Division. On Sunday they discovered that the 'commander' of the surrendered troops was actually a junior officer masquerading as a higher-up in an attempt to win better treatment." |
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| Bio-chemical protection suits | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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27 March 2003: Mr Hoon [the UK Defence Secretary] said: “We do have evidence that the Iraqi regime is prepared to use weapons of mass destruction. We already knew from Iraqi prisoners of war that protective equipment was issued to southern Iraqi divisions. British forces have made significant discoveries in recent days which show categorically that Iraqi troops are prepared for the use of such horrific weapons.” – from the |
28 March 2003: Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, was forced yesterday to retract claims that the discovery of more than 100 bio-chemical protection suits in Iraq was "categorical" proof that Saddam Hussein was preparing to use weapons of mass destruction. – from |
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| "Smart" bombs | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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21 March 2003: "Every weapon is precision guided – deadly accuracy designed to kill only the targets, not innocent civilians." – NBC Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski. |
Monday March 24, 2003: DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) A U.S. missile hit a passenger bus on the Iraqi side of the border as it carried Syrian civilians fleeing the war, killing five people and wounding 10, Syria's official news agency reported Monday.
The US has admitted "misfiring" two cruise missiles, which landed in Turkey today.
Two Pentagon officials now confirm that three U.S. cruise missiles may have gone astray in Iran.
The officials say U.S. and Iranian officials are discussing the matter and that Iran realizes that any hit was unintentional. |
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| "Brave defenders" | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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The first bodies of fallen American servicemen were brought back to the United States on Tuesday. "We pray that God will bless and receive each of the fallen, and we thank God that liberty found such brave defenders," the president said. – Bush addressing the troops in Florida, |
“Once, a grateful nation offered vets free medical care. Now, the Republicans want to charge premiums to "well-to-do" vets – with well-to-do defined as earning $26,000 a year. All told, the House budget cuts an amazing $14.6 billion in vets' programs, including money for disabilities caused by war wounds, rehabilitation and health care, pensions for low income veterans, education and housing benefits, and even – nice touch – burial benefits.”. [1]. An update (November 2003). |
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| Weapons of Mass Destruction - 1 | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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President Bush, in his |
These days, he rarely mentions weapons of mass destruction at all. |
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| Education | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“Every single child in America must be educated, I mean every child. ... There's nothing more prejudiced than not educating a child.” – George W. Bush, presidential debate versus Vice President Al Gore, 11 October 2000. |
In his 2003 budget, Bush proposed funding levels far below what the legislation called for, requesting only $22.1 billion of the $29.2 billion that Congress authorized. For the largest program, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides support to students in impoverished school districts, Bush asked for $11.35 billion out of the $18.5 billion authorized. His 2004 budget was more than $6 billion short of what Congress authorized.
[2]
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| Health | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“Our goal is a system in which all Americans have got a good insurance policy, in which all Americans can choose their own doctor, in which seniors and low-income citizens receive the help they need. ... Our Medicare system is a binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that commitment by providing the seniors of today and tomorrow with preventive care and the new medicines that are transforming health care in our country.” – George W. Bush, Medicare address, |
Bush's plan, in effect, would turn Medicaid into a block grant, capping the federal contribution. Because states are already hard-pressed to keep up with Medicaid costs, services to the poor will simply dwindle. Bush claims to bring flexibility to Medicaid, and, in a sense, he's right. Under his plan states would have, as Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson put it, "carte blanche" in dealing with optional benefits and optional recipients. In other words, a mother making more than $9,000 a year would be fair game, as would an 8-year-old child who lives in a family with an income just above the poverty line, or a senior citizen or disabled person living on $7,200 a year. [2] |
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| Clear Skies | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“Clear Skies legislation, when passed by Congress, will significantly reduce smog and mercury emissions, as well as stop acid rain. It will put more money directly into programs to reduce pollution, so as to meet firm national air-quality goals. ...” – George W. Bush, Earth Day speech, |
Actually, the Clear Skies law doesn't do any of this. The act, in fact, delays required emission cuts by as much as 10 years, usurps the states' power to address interstate pollution problems and allows outdated industrial facilities to skirt costly pollution-control upgrades. The Environmental Protection Agency ensured that few people would notice this last regulation by announcing the change on the Friday before Thanksgiving and publishing it in the Federal Register on New Year's Eve. [2] |
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| "A peaceful people" | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“We are a peaceful people” – U.S. President George W. Bush, |
From the  FBI website: “There were an estimated 15,517 murders in 2000”.
"From 1945 to the end of the century, the United States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable regimes. – Rogue State by William Blum. |
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| Police and firefighters | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“We have gained new heroes: Those who ran into burning buildings to save others, our police and our firefighters....The government has a responsibility to protect our citizens – and that starts with homeland security. ” – speech by George W. Bush, Atlanta, |
“The Economist compares New York City to Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on its shoulders. Already reeling from a massive deficit, declining income and the economic aftershocks of 9/11, the city must pay an estimated $1 billion a year for emergency and counterterrorism costs. Bush could care less. After attempting to stiff New York entirely, Congress has finally agreed to kick in about $200 million, far more than Bush proposed. My shaken city can ill afford to make up the difference. It already has 4,000 fewer cops than it did two years ago but must assign more than a thousand of those remaining to the terrorist beat. It may shutter forty fire companies. Massive layoffs, tax hikes and cutbacks in every kind of social service are in the offing. And Gotham is hardly alone. Enhanced security measures cost the nation's cities an estimated $2.6 billion in the fifteen months after 9/11.” |
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| Iraqi oil | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“We don't touch it, and the US doesn't touch it” – Tony Blair: MTV, 7 March 2003. |
The draft UN resolution gives total control of Iraq's oil revenues to the US and UK until an Iraqi government is established. |
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| The UN role in Iraq | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“The UN will have a vital role to play” – George W. Bush: Belfast, |
The UN has been reduced to an advisory function on the ground in Iraq. All operational decisions will be taken by UK and US officials. |
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| Aid to Iraq | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“The UN should have a key role in administering the delivery of humanitarian aid” – Tony Blair: House of Commons, 18 March 2003. |
US and UK to oversee aid effort with UN reduced to co-ordinating role. |
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| Weapons inspections | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“Should the UN have a vital role to play in respect of weapons inspections? The answer to that is yes.” – Jack Straw, UK Foreign Secretary: Interview, 25 April 2003. |
No role for the UN inspectors 'for the foreseeable future'. |
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| Afghanistan | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“We are going to have an enormous obligation, not only the United States but the whole international community, to not leave the Afghan people in the lurch, and not to walk away as has been done in the past.” – Colin Powell, Secretary of State, 20 November 2001. ( |
The Bush administration failed to request any money for humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Afghanistan in its budget for 2003. (BBC).
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| Cluster bombs in Iraq | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“Only one of the nearly 1,500 cluster bombs used by coalition forces in Iraq resulted in civilian casualties. An initial review of all cluster munitions used and the targets they were used on indicate that only 26 of those approximately 1,500 hit targets within 1,500 feet of civilian neighborhoods. And there's been only one recorded case of collateral damage from cluster munitions noted so far.” – General Richard Myers, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, |
“Among the 168 patients I counted, not one was being treated for bullet wounds. All of them, men, women, children, bore the wounds of bomb shrapnel. It peppered their bodies. Blackened the skin. Smashed heads. Tore limbs. 'All the injuries you see were caused by cluster bombs,' Dr Hydar Abbas told Antonowicz. 'Most of the people came from the southern and western periphery. The majority of the victims were children who died because they were outside.'” |
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| Weapons of Mass Destruction - 2 | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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| Powell's speech to the UN | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | WHAT THEY SAY (VERSION 2) |
“You will now hear an officer from Republican Guard headquarters issuing an instruction to an officer in the field. Their conversation took place just last week, on January 30.”
"And we sent you a message yesterday to clean out all the areas, the scrap areas, the abandoned areas. Make sure there is nothing there. Remember the first message: evacuate it."“My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we are giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.”
– Secretary of State |
Lt. Col. And we sent you a message to inspect the scrap areas and the abandoned areas.– The State Department's own translation of the same conversation. [The original page has disappeared - this is an archive version from the Internet Archive.]
Notice that the word "inspect" has been replaced by "clean out", and "Make sure there is nothing there." is a complete invention. |
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| Iraq's nuclear weapons | |
| WHAT THEY SAID THEN | WHAT THEY SAY NOW |
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“The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" – his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.”
– George Bush, “We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” – Vice President Cheney on "Meet The Press", |
Rumsfeld: You may be reading too much. I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons. Q: I didn't say nuclear – Rumsfeld: I'm saying that. I'm trying to respond to your question. I don't know anybody in any government or any intelligence agency who suggested that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons. That's fact number one. – Donald Rumsfeld, Pentagon briefing, |
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| Bush's tax cuts | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“My jobs and growth plan would reduce tax rates for everyone who pays income tax.”
– George W. Bush, |
The Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center found  8.1 million people who pay taxes but will receive no tax cuts.
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| "Democracies do not shelter terrorists" | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“And democratic governments do not shelter terrorist camps or attack their peaceful neighbors.”
– George W. Bush, |
The US shelters Cuban exile terrorists. The previous Bush administration, overruling its own Justice Department, freed from prison Orlando Bosch, who had been charged and imprisoned in Venezuela for the October 6, 1976 bombing of a Cubana airliner off Barbados, an act of terrorism that resulted in the loss of 73 lives, many of them innocent young Cubans – including the entire Cuban fencing team. For more information see Keeping things in perspective: Cuba and the question of international terrorism by Anya K. Landau and Wayne S. Smith, 06 November 2001.
The US attacked Mexico in 1848 and stole Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and California. For more information see
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| "The poor need the power of democracy to defend themselves against corrupt elites" | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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“...the poor, especially, need the power of democracy to defend themselves against corrupt elites.”
– George W. Bush, |
“The United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) reports that in 2000, twelve percent of all American households were "food insecure." In other words, 1 in 10 households could not lead active, healthy lives because they did not have enough to eat. Of these families, 4.2 million households (8.5 million people) had to skip or reduce their meals.” – From Food First. See also Long queue at drive-in soup kitchen by Julian Borger, 03 November 2003.
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| Abu Ghraib prison | |
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Because our coalition acted, Saddam's torture chambers are closed. (Applause.) – Remarks by the President at Bush-Cheney 2004 Reception,
The Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, California 03 March 2004. |
Abu Ghraib |
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| Camp Breadbasket | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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The days of Britain having to apologise for its colonial history are over. We should talk, and rightly so, about British values that are enduring, because they stand for some of the greatest ideas in history: tolerance, liberty, civic duty, that grew in Britain and influenced the rest of the world. Our strong traditions of fair play, of openness, of internationalism, these are great British values. – Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Tanzania, 15 February 2005. |
 Torture by British soldiers, Iraq 2004 |
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| Support Our Troops | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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Our men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and in this war on terror have died in a noble cause, in a selfless cause. Their families can know that American citizens pray for them. And the families can know that we will honor their loved one's sacrifice by completing the mission, by laying the foundations for peace for generations to come. – George Bush, Radio Address, 03 August 2005. |
Talking to a truckload of troops, sitting in the predawn darkness in a desert staging area Friday [05 August 2005] morning, Sgt. Marcio Vargas Estrada made the point in plain language to the men of his squad from 3-2's Lima Company.
"If somebody shoots at you, you waste the m*th*rf*ck*rs," said Estrada, 32, of Kearny, N.J. "When you go back to Camp Lejeune [in North Carolina], these will be the good old days, when you brought ... death and destruction to - what the f*ck is this place called?" A Marine answered in the darkness: "Haqlaniyah." Estrada continued: "Haqlaniyah, yeah, that. And then we will take death and destruction to Haditha. Hopefully, we'll stay until December so we can bring death and destruction to half of f*ck*ng Iraq."
The flatbed truck erupted in a storm of "Hoo-ahs." – |
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| Torture | |
| WHAT THEY SAY | THE REALITY |
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Today, on the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United States declares its strong solidarity with torture victims across the world. Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law.
Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, ratified by the United States and more than 130 other countries since 1984, forbids governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering on those within their custody or control. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit. Beating, burning, rape, and electric shock are some of the grisly tools such regimes use to terrorize their own citizens. These despicable crimes cannot be tolerated by a world committed to justice.
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 Abu Ghraib |
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[1] Offensive Interference from American Prospect Online.
[2] All the President's Lies from American Prospect Online.
| Internal Links | External Links |
 2003: A Year of Distortion for the American People from the Center for American Progress, 14 December 2003. “On December 13, the White House issued a document entitled "2003: A Year of Accomplishment for the American People." The document made various inaccurate and deceptive claims about the Administration's record over the last year. This report by the Center for American Progress seeks to correct those distortions, matching the White House's rhetoric with facts.”
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 Offensive Interference from the American Prospect Online.All the President's Lies from the American Prospect Online.
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For more articles and links on related topics see
The Bush Dynasty
Alternative Media and Criticism of Western Media/General
US Torture Worldwide
