Bush's 16 words

In President George W. Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union 2003 speech, reportedly over 5,400 words long, perhaps the most memorable are Bush's 16 words

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

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• Bush administration scandals
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• Georgeland
• Intelligence Community
• Valerie Plame/Valerie Plame/External Links
• weapons of mass destruction investigation
• Yellowcake forgery

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Articles & Commentary

2003

• Ilana Mercer, "'Just War' for dummies," WorldNetDaily, March 12, 2003: "In the 2,000 kilometers he crisscrossed in three weeks of searching for nuclear-development activities, in the 75 facilities examined, in 218 nuclear inspections at 141 sites, including 21 newly discovered sites, Hans Blix's colleague, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, met with an 'overall deterioration' and disrepair in Iraqi infrastructure. No trace of firing up production, North Korea or Iran-style. ... The account makes polite mention of an investigation into reports (spread by the U.S.) regarding Iraq's uranium transactions. They were 'not authentic,' which is a refined way of informing reasonable minds what the American power-worshipping chattering classes (and networks) criminally conceal: They were forgeries, folks!"
• "Ex-envoy: Uranium claim unfounded," CNN, July 8, 2003: "In January, President Bush cited a British report accusing Iraq of trying to obtain uranium from an African country. Now, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV claims he was asked by the CIA to investigate that report almost a year before the president's statement, and found it inaccurate."
• "Donald Rumsfeld dismisses concerns over intelligence. Defense chief: Uranium claim small part of evidence for war," CNN, July 10, 2003.
• "Bush demonstrating his commitment to Africa," Larry King interview with Colin L. Powell, CNN, July 11, 2003: "KING: What is your thinking and thoughts on this furor over the president's admitted misstatement about the uranium purchases in Africa by Iraq in the State of the Union address? ... POWELL: Frankly, Larry, I think too much is being made out of this single statement in the State of the Union address."
• Walter Pincus and Mike Allen, "CIA Got Uranium Reference Cut in Oct. Why Bush Cited It In Jan. Is Unclear," Washington Post, July 13, 2003.
• William Newkirk, "Democrats criticize, Bush advisers qualify `16 words' about uranium," Chicago Tribune, July 13, 2003.
• "Rice: 16 words dispute 'enormously overblown'," CNN, July 14, 2003: "Criticism grew last week over the White House's acknowledgment that President Bush included a 16-word statement in his State of the Union address that was based on false intelligence. The statement was part of Bush's argument to declare war on Iraq."
• Steve Gilliard, "16 words," Daily Kos, July 14, 2003.
• Neal Boortz, "The left's 16-word Bush 'scandal'," WorldNetDaily, July 15, 2003.
• Ilana Mercer, "Bush's 16 words miss the Big Picture," WorldNewsDaily, July 16, 2003.
• Mike McArdle, "The Other 16 Words," Democratic Underground, July 19, 2003: "The statement later proved to be false but Dr. Condoleezza Rice told Wolf Blitzer, 'it is 16 words, and it has become an enormously overblown issue.' ... Rice's efforts didn't do much to make the furor die down although a couple of other Presidential defenders have picked up on the '16 words' theme this week. But on Monday, Mr. Bush provided us with 16 words that may be of even greater significance than the fraudulent ones that found their way into the State of the Union address. ... The war in Iraq began he said, because, 'We gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in.'"
• Christopher Marquis, "How Powerful Can 16 Words Be?" New York Times (Common Dreams), July 20, 2003.
• "Bush's 16 words still hotly debated," CNN, July 20, 2003: "Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told CNN's 'Late Edition' the intelligence flap 'is bigger, wider, deeper than just about one person.' ... 'To just throw George J. Tenet's body from the train and say, 'That takes care of the problem,' I don't think is the way to do this,' Hagel said. ... Hagel pointed to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney as part of the process that led to Bush including the report in the annual presidential address."
• "Bush's 16 words," National Post, July 22, 2003.
• Terry Eastland, "Maybe there is a reason Bush won't retract the sentence," Dallas Morning News, July 22, 2003.
• Derrick Z. Jackson, "The 16 Words Weren't Just a Data Point," Boston Globe, July 23, 2003.
• Mark Mellman, "It's not just about the 16 words," The Hill, July 30, 2003.
• "The 19 words that followed the 16 words. ('Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.')," Carpetbagger Report, August 1, 2003: "We've known for a while that this claim was dubious, but I'm bringing it up again because Mother Jones ran a really good story about this in its current issue. ... The truth is Hussein did try to buy some highly-refined aluminum tubes, but as Mother Jones explains, 'they were not, as alleged by the Bush administration, to be used in a uranium-enriching centrifuge; rather they were intended to be used in the production of conventional rockets -- at least according to the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, the closest thing to an impartial authority in this case.' ... Just as importantly, while the administration knew the Niger claim was false before it was inserted into the State of the Union, the administration also had received word about the suspect evidence on the aluminum tubes line."
• John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, "Taking Responsibility," AlterNet, August 15, 2003.

2006

• Jason Leopold, "State Department Memo: '16 Words' Were False," truthout, April 17, 2006.

2007

• Jason Leopold, "Tenet Book Blames White House for '16 Words'," truthout, April 29, 2007.