It’s been clear for months that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction and had a very limited WMD program before the war. Yet in late October 27% of Americans falsely believed that Iraq had WMD before the war and an additional 22% believed it had a major WMD program (PIPA poll [PDF] – see page 8). The message is not getting through because the White House and other conservative elites are encouraging these misperceptions. The latest offender is Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA), who Salon just caught making stuff up (via Atrios and Kevin Drum):

“America’s Operation Iraqi Freedom is still producing shock and awe, this time among the blame-America-first crowd,” he crowed. Then he said, “We continue to discover biological and chemical weapons and facilities to make them inside Iraq.”

Where’s the proof, Congressman? Let’s get Charles Duelfer on the phone ASAP!

In all seriousness, if the media doesn’t follow up on this, there is no hope. None. We need to make sure Salon quoted him accurately, but if they did, there should be hell to pay.