A study by the Center for Public Integrity and the Fund for Independence in Journalism released on Tuesday, Jan. 22 counted 935 public false statements made by the Bush administration in the two-year run-up to the invasion of Iraq. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel refused to comment on the study, but did say that “the actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of intelligence agencies around the world.”

The study found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other outlets, the president and other senior administration officials stated “unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both,” according to the Associated Press.

“It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida,” wrote Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith in a statement released by the two non-profits organizations. “In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq.”

Specific current and former officials named in the study included President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House Press Secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan. According to the study, the president led with 259 false statements - 231 about weapons of mass destruction and 28 about Iraq’s supposed links to al-Qaida. Former Secretary of State Powell was second with 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction and 10 about the connection to al-Qaida.