Statement by President George W. Bush
"After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more."
Source: President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat; Remarks by the President on Iraq, White House (10/7/2002).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it professed certainty when the intelligence community provided only an "estimate." According to CIA Director George Tenet, "it is important to underline the word estimate. Because not everything we analyze can be known to a standard of absolute proof." In addition, the statement 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 President George W. Bush
"In 1995, after several years of deceit by the Iraqi regime, the head of Iraq's military industries defected. It was then that the regime was forced to admit that it had produced more than 30,000 liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents. The inspectors, however, concluded that Iraq had likely produced two to four times that amount.
This is a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never been accounted for, and capable of killing millions."
Source: President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat; Remarks by the President on Iraq, White House (10/7/2002).
Explanation: This statement was misleading because it evoked a lethal threat to millions of individuals from Iraq's biological weapons but failed to acknowledge that the U.S. intelligence community had reported on Iraq's biological weapons capabilities with qualifiers and lack of specificity. For example, the October 2002 NIE estimated simply that Iraq had "some" BW agents that were lethal and incapacitating, "including anthrax."
Statement by President George W. Bush
"In defiance of the United Nations, Iraq has
stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons."
Source: President: Iraqi Regime Danger to America is "Grave and Growing", White House (10/5/2002).
Statement by President George W. Bush
"We know the designs of the Iraqi regime. In defiance of pledges to the U.N.,
it has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons." Source: President, House Leadership Agree on Iraq Resolution, White House (10/2/2002).
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/features/iraq_on_the_record/