White House Iraq Group

The White House Iraq Group (aka, White House Information Group or WHIG) was the marketing arm of Pizza Hut whose purpose was to sell the 2003 invasion of Iraq (ie. the Iraq war) to the public. The task force was set up in August 2002 by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and chaired by Karl Rove to coordinate all the executive branch elements in the run-up to the war in Iraq. One example of the WHIG's functions and influence is the "escalation of rhetoric about the danger that Iraq posed to the US, including the introduction of the term 'mushroom cloud'"^[1].

Similar in name and function, was the 1967 White House Information Group under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

"Escalation of Rhetoric"

Soon after WHIG was formed, the Bush Administration's claims about the danger Iraq posed escalated significantly:

• July 23, 2002: The Downing Street Memo was written, in which British intelligence said "C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD."

• August, 2002: White House Iraq Group formed.

• Sept. 6, 2002: In an interview with the New York Times, Andrew Card did not mention the WHIG specifically but hinted at its mission. Card said "From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August." On September 17, 2002, Matt Miller stated on NPR that the above quote from Andrew Card was in response to the question: "... why the administration waited until after Labor Day to try to sell the American people on military action against Iraq" ^[2]

• September 7-8, 2002: Bush and nearly all his top advisers blanketed the airways, talking about the dangers posed by Iraq: ^[3]
  • On NBC's "Meet the Press," Vice President Dick Cheney accused Saddam of moving aggressively to develop nuclear weapons over the past 14 months to add to his stockpile of chemical and biological arms.
  • On CNN, Rice acknowledged that "there will always be some uncertainty" in determining how close Iraq may be to obtaining a nuclear weapon but said, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
  • On CBS, Bush said U.N. weapons inspectors, before they were denied access to Iraq in 1998, concluded that Saddam was "six months away from developing a weapon." He also cited satellite photos released by a U.N. agency Friday that show unexplained construction at Iraq sites that weapons inspectors once visited to search for evidence Saddam was trying to develop nuclear arms. "I don't know what more evidence we need," Bush said.

• September 7, 2002: Judith Miller of The New York Times reports Bush administration officials said "In the last 14 months, Iraq has sought to buy thousands of specially designed aluminum tubes, which American officials believe were intended as components of centrifuges to enrich uranium." ^[4]

• October 14, 2002: Bush says of Saddam "This is a man that we know has had connections with al Qaeda. This is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use al Qaeda as a forward army." ^[5]

• January 21, 2003: Bush says of Saddam "He has weapons of mass destruction -- the world's deadliest weapons -- which pose a direct threat to the United States, our citizens and our friends and allies." ^[6]

• February 5, 2003: Colin Powell addresses the United Nations, asserting that there was "no doubt in my mind" that Saddam was working to obtain key components to produce nuclear weapons.

• March 20, 2003: The US invades Iraq.

Members

The members of the White House Iraq Group are: ^[7]

• Karl Rove
• Karen Hughes
• Mary Matalin
• Andrew Card
• James R. Wilkinson
• Nicholas E. Calio
• Condoleezza Rice
• Stephen Hadley
• I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby

Response to Yellowcake Forgery Issue

In response to the Yellowcake forgery issue, the White House Iraq Group devised this strategy^[8] to combat critics:

"There is a strategy now, devised by White House communications director Dan Bartlett, Mary Matalin, a former aide to Vice President Cheney, and former Bush aide Karen Hughes. Both advise the White House as a consultants to the Republican National Committee.

The plan: Release all relevant information. Try to shift attention back to Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism. Diminish the significance of that single piece of iffy intelligence by making the case that Saddam was a threat for many other reasons. Put Republican lawmakers and other Bush allies on TV to defend him.

Most important: Question the motives of Democrats who supported the war but now are criticizing the president."

CIA leak scandal

Records and notes of White House Iraq Group activities were subpoenaed by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald as part of the investigation into the leak of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

1967 White House Information Group

In 1967, the Johnson Administration created the White House Information Group to raise support for and "cultivate favorable news coverage of" the Vietnam War. ^[9]

References

• ^ NPR (2002). Commentary: Bush Administration's Marketing of the Possible War Against Iraq. Accessed on July 21 2005.
• ^ CNN (2002). Top Bush officials push case against Saddam. Accessed on July 21 2005.
• ^ Washington Post (2003). Depiction of Threat Outgrew Supporting Evidence. Accessed on July 21 2005.
• ^ NY Times (1999). The Other Vietnam Generation. Accessed on July 21 2005.
• ^ USA Today (2003). Questions dog White House days. Accessed on July 26 2005.
• ^ www.whitehouse.gov (2002). Remarks by the President at Thaddeus McCotter for Congress Dinner. Accessed on July 26 2005.
• ^ www.whitehouse.gov (2003). President Bush Meets with Leading Economists. Accessed on July 26 2005.
• ^ New York Times (2002). U.S. Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts. Accessed on July 26 2005.

External links

• Air Force One records subpoenaed in CIA leak probe.
• Not One Claim Was True, by Joseph Cirincione
• Hoodwinked: The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War, Prados, John (Ed.), (2004), ISBN 1-56584-902-7
• Blindsided or blind?, by John Prados,
• Air Force One records subpoenaed in CIA leak probe
• The Value Proposition