True or False or False or False or…

A pop quiz on the current WMD rhetoric.
Mock U., Ari Melber, Aug. 11, 2006

Posted Friday, August 11, 2006

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  • True or False or False or False or…

A pop quiz on the current WMD rhetoric.

By Ari Melber

After the foiled terror plot in Britain, Americans have plenty of security threats to worry about. Yet many prominent Republicans are still trying to scare the public with threats that do not exist: those infamous weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that were never found in Iraq. Over the past few weeks, everyone from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to Right Wing pundit Sean Hannity have trotted out lies about WMD to prop up the unpopular Iraq war. Take MockU’s pop quiz on WMD lies and see if you can pick the real answers.

1. Which of the following did Senator Rick Santorum say in June 2006 press conference about WMDs in Iraq?


  1. "Our agenda is clear. We will ban gay marriage, win the war on terror and find the WMDs in Iraq. And not, I should add, not necessarily in that order."

  2. "I think we’re in the 8th inning of this search for weapons, and now it’s time for a closing pitcher."

  3. "Actually, some generals say finding the weapons of mass destruction will protect us more than catching Bin Laden. Because those weapons could be used against us by someone else, and remember, Bin Laden is in a cave."

  4. "We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons."


2. In Congressional testimony in June 2006, David Kay, former chief US weapons inspector in Iraq, said the "chemical weapons" that Santorum cited in his press conference were less dangerous than:


  1. Binge drinking

  2. Spoiled milk

  3. Expired birth control pills

  4. Household pesticides


3. In June 2006, the Pentagon responded to Santorum’s WMD press conference by clarifying that:


  1. Santorum’s decisions were based on intelligence so secret it appears as incorrect information to civilian media

  2. Attempting to fact-check a pro-war Senator was detrimental to the War on Terror

  3. Santorum was mistaken because Saddam’s WMDs are now believed to be in Syria, and we’d better go get them.

  4. Santorum was referring to weapons that were "not the WMDs for which this country went to war."


4. Which of the following did President Bush say in May 2003 about WMDs in Iraq?


  1. "There are weapons there, and that is – people know, that is why we went to war, so either we will find them or Saddam destroyed them."

  2. "We believe Saddam had WMDs. Our allies believe it, and his enemies, which I guess you could say includes us, but also others – we all believe he had them."

  3. "We will find the weapons of mass destruction."

  4. "We found the weapons of mass destruction."


5. Which of the following questions did Conservative Pundit Sean Hannity ask in a July 2006 audience poll?


  1. "When did you know in your heart that President Bush would win the war on terror?"

  2. "How awesome was it when the U.S. pulled Saddam out of his coward-hole?"

  3. "How did you feel when the U.S. found Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan?"

  4. "What do you think about WMDs being found in Iraq?"


6. A July 2006 Harris Poll indicated the percent of Americans who mistakenly believe Iraq had WMD is:

  1. Down 5% from last year to 30%
  2. Down 8% from last year to 20%
  3. Steady from last year at 40%
  4. Up 14% from last year to 50%

Unfortunately, the answer to all of the above was D. Seriously.

 

Ari Melber, a former legislative aide in the U.S. Senate, has written for The Nation Online, The American Prospect Online, The Baltimore Sun, The Huffington Post and other publications.

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