Here’s how Democratic operative (masquerading as non-partisan AP reporter) Jennifer Loven opens her article on tonight’s debate:

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A lackluster unemployment report, troubling terrorism developments and fresh questions about President Bush’s rationale for invading Iraq frame the second face-to-face encounter Friday night between Bush and John Kerry.

This tone, harshly skeptical of Bush and admiring of Kerry, is maintained throughout Loven’s piece. But the worst part is her blatant distortion of the conclusions of the Duelfer report:

A final report from the chief U.S. weapons hunter in Iraq concluded that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons, had no programs to make either them or nuclear bombs, and had little ability - or immediate plans - to revive those programs.

The Duelfer report reached the exact opposite conclusion from Loven’s outrageous mischaracterization.

Duelfer concluded that Saddam Hussein planned to restart his weapons programs, including his nuclear program, as soon as he could convince a gullible and increasingly malleable United Nations to lift the economic sanctions on Iraq. And Saddam’s former nuclear chief told the New York Times that Iraqi nuclear programs could have been reconstituted within months:

Threat is always a matter of perception, but our nuclear program could have been reinstituted at the snap of Saddam Hussein’s fingers. The sanctions and the lucrative oil-for-food program had served as powerful deterrents, but world events - like Iran’s current efforts to step up its nuclear ambitions - might well have changed the situation.

Iraqi scientists had the knowledge and the designs needed to jumpstart the program if necessary. And there is no question that we could have done so very quickly. In the late 1980’s, we put together the most efficient covert nuclear program the world has ever seen. In about three years, we gained the ability to enrich uranium and nearly become a nuclear threat; we built an effective centrifuge from scratch, even though we started with no knowledge of centrifuge technology. Had Saddam Hussein ordered it and the world looked the other way, we might have shaved months if not years off our previous efforts.

It’s gone beyond scary to see how mainstream media is willing to blatantly lie about the most serious threats to America, in their demented quest to oust George Bush. You can complain about the obvious, outrageous bias of this Associated Press story by Jennifer Loven by sending email to info@ap.org.