Karl Rove brings his misinformation tour to Meet the Press
Rove falsely claimed it "was not" Bush policy "to go into Iraq and take their" oil revenues "to pay for the cost of the war"Rove also lied about health-care reform and the reconciliation process claiming is was not "normal". Which makes Rove a lying hypocrite since Republican used the reconciliation process more than Democrats ever have to pass major legislation.
Fact: Bush administration officials said "the bulk of the funds for Iraq's reconstruction will come from Iraqis," including "oil revenues"
Rumsfeld: "[T]he bulk of the funds for Iraq's reconstruction will come from Iraqis," including "oil revenues." In an October 2, 2003, news briefing, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld discussed President Bush's request for $87 billion in funding for the "global war on terror," $21 billion dollars of which Rumsfeld declared was "to help Afghanistan and Iraq secure their nation's freedom." Rumsfeld added: "The $20 billion the president requested is not intended to cover all of Iraq's needs. The bulk of the funds for Iraq's reconstruction will come from Iraqis -- from oil revenues, recovered assets, international trade, direct foreign investment, as well as some contributions we've already received and hope to receive from the international community."
Wolfowitz: "We're dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction." As Think Progress noted, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz testified before Congress on March 27, 2003, that "the oil revenues of that country [Iraq] could bring between 50 and 100 billion dollars over the course of the next two or three years. Now, there are a lot of claims on that money, but that's --- we're not dealing with Afghanistan that's a permanent ward of the international community. We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon."
Fleisher: Iraq "is a rather wealthy country" that has the "means" to "shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction." As Think Progress also noted, in a February 18, 2003, press conference, then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said of reconstruction costs: "Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, is a rather wealthy country. Iraq has tremendous resources that belong to the Iraqi people. And so there are a variety of means that Iraq has to be able to shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction."
State Department suggested Iraqi "oil revenue" could "finance reconstruction with development itself, given its oil revenue." In an October 4, 2002, press briefing then-Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Richard Boucher was asked whether the Iraq "working groups ... include[d] a financial component on how it would be funded and talks about whether that would be something the US would fund or the donor community." He replied, "I'm sure as they face each of these challenges they have to talk about the financing challenges, and obviously in some areas it's more likely Iraq would be able to finance reconstruction with development itself, given its oil revenue; in some areas, there might be needs."
