Although even President Bush has admitted that "much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong" on purported weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, one group has not given up the claim. Move America Forward, the same folks who led the so-called Truth Tour in Iraq and the anti-Cindy Sheehan bus tour, is running an ad claiming that Saddam had both WMDs and links to al Qaeda, reports The Wall Street Journal:
Newly found Iraqi documents show that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, including anthrax and mustard gas, and had "extensive ties" to al Qaeda. The discoveries are being covered up by those "willing to undermine support for the war on terrorism to selfishly advance their shameless political ambitions."
Not that the WSJ swallows the claim, or the credibility of the independent nonprofit.
Similar to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- the advocacy group that helped derail John Kerry's presidential campaign -- Move America Forward has magnified its reach by making small television and radio ad buys and then relying on cable- and local-television news outlets to give the commercials heavy coverage. Move America Forward has no discernible formal ties to the White House or the Republican National Committee, and the group says it operates independently from the Republican Party establishment. Still, the organization provides a clear benefit to the administration by spreading a pro-war message that goes beyond what administration officials can say publicly.
That news coverage of the ads hasn't fully materialized. Nor has any public inquiry into the group's tax-exempt status, the WSJ notes. "When you have people participating in partisan activities with nonprofit dollars, that's really something the IRS needs to look at," the paper quotes Tom Matzzie, Washington director of MoveOn.org, a liberal political action committee (i.e. contributions to it are neither tax-exempt nor anonymous). "An organization with a shady tax status participating in partisan activities and saying things that aren't true is a rogue element in American politics."
MAF co-founder Melanie Morgan, a conservative San Francisco radio host, insists that the group is non-partisan. "[W]e've never been embraced by the White House or made part of a secret-right wing conspiracy," she tells the WSJ. And she likely believes the stories she's telling.
Ms. Morgan says she is baffled that the White House no longer makes the case that Mr. Hussein had WMDs. The White House dropped the claims after a variety of investigators found no evidence to substantiate them. But Ms. Morgan says her ads are justified, based on documents given to her in Iraq by an Iraqi general she identified as Abdul Qader Jassim, and on information from U.S. officials involved in the hunt for weapons there. She believes Mr. Hussein possessed WMDs, and that those weapons remain in Iraq today. It couldn't be ascertained that Mr. Jassim is a general and he couldn't be reached for comment.