BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS USED 27 RATIONALES FOR WAR IN IRAQ, STUDY SAYS

Via Digby of Hullabaloo

Only 27?

If it seems that there have been quite a few rationales for going to war in Iraq, that’s because there have been quite a few – 27, in fact, all floated between Sept. 12, 2001, and Oct. 11, 2002, according to a new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. All but four of the rationales originated with the administration of President George W. Bush. The study also finds that the Bush administration switched its focus from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein early on – only five months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

A summary is here.

This is really fascinating stuff. "I can't believe I read [almost] the whole thing." Tracking the public pronouncements of the Bush administration, Congress, and the media, the author demonstrates how the focus of public discourse changed from Osama bin Laden to Saddam and Iraq, and when that focus changed for each of her three subject categories. Bush, of course, led the change, and the media switched back and forth before finally settling on Iraq.

At the very least, read the executive summary.