Secret Pentagon Unit Churned Out Dubious 'Intelligence' Used to Justify Iraq War

Interview with journalist Robert Dreyfuss, conducted by Scott Harris

As November's presidential election draws nearer, more information is being revealed about the dubious evidence, exaggerations and misrepresentations used by the Bush administration to justify its war to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill recently made headlines with comments in a new book and in an interview on CBS TV's "60 Minutes," in which he says that the White House started planning their war against Iraq shortly after President Bush was sworn into office and eight months before the Sept.11 terrorist attacks.

Secretary of State Colin Powell recently said that there is no evidence connecting Saddam Hussein's government with the al Qaeda terrorist network, contradicting numerous statements made by the White House to rally public support for the war. Even as David Kay, the Bush administration's chief postwar weapons inspector, announced his departure from his position, a 400-man team assigned to find Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was withdrawn from Iraq. A report written by a research professor at the U.S. Army War College asserts that the war in Iraq was unnecessary and diverted attention and resources from the threat posed by al Qaeda.

Adding to the body of evidence indicating the Bush White House employed deception and dishonest intelligence assessments to aid their war effort, is an investigative report in Mother Jones Magazine titled, "The Lie Factory," detailing the existence of a secret Pentagon unit used to create the case for invading Iraq leading the nation to war. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with journalist Robert Dreyfuss, who co-wrote the article along with Jason Vest. He explains how the White House used a network of defense department offices and think tanks to launch a pre-emptive war.

Read Robert Dreyfuss' "The Lie Factory," on the Mother Jones magazine's website at www.motherjones.com Paul O'Neill's book, "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill," is published by Simon and Schuster.

Related links:

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (www.ceip.org) study, "WMD IN IRAQ: Evidence and Implications".

Summary of findings, recommendations

"War College Study Calls Iraq a 'Detour'," by Chuck Neubauer and Ken Silverstein, The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 12, 2004

"O'Neill Denies Charges on Book Documents," by The Associated Press, Jan. 13, 2004

"US Treasury to probe O'Neill book," BBC News, Jan. 13, 2004

"Truth About Iraq Known; Fallout Isn't," by Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 12, 2004

"Bush Sought Iraq Invasion Pre-9/11," CBS News, Jan. 11, 2004

"Carnegie group says Bush made wrong claims on WMD," Julian Borger, The Guardian, Jan. 8, 2004

"No proof links Iraq, al-Qaida, Powell says," by Christopher Marquis, New York Times, Jan. 9, 2004

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