Key False Statements

January 2008
Key False Statements

On September 8, 2002, Bush administration officials hit the national
airwaves to advance the argument that Iraq had acquired aluminum tubes designed
to enrich uranium. In an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, for example, Vice
President Dick Cheney flatly stated that Saddam Hussein "now is trying through
his illicit procurement network to acquire the equipment he needs to be able to
enrich uranium."

Condoleezza Rice, who was then Bush's national security adviser, followed
Cheney that night on CNN's Late Edition. In answer to a question from Wolf
Blitzer on how close Saddam Hussein's government was to developing a nuclear
capability, Rice said: "We do know that he is actively pursuing a nuclear
weapon. We do know there have been shipments going into . . . Iraq, for
instance, of aluminum tubes that really are only suited to—high-quality
aluminum tools that only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge
programs."