Bush administration 'altered, censored Web sites'

A WHITE PAPER claims that the Bush administration suppressed, distorted or obstructed science to pursue its own political and ideological goals and censored or altered Web sites to suit its ideas.

Web sites have been altered to delete information that conflicts with administration policy or to add allegedly unscientific information that support policy, the paper said.

One example, claims the paper, alleges that the State Department's Agency for International Development "censored its web site to remove information on the effectiveness of condoms".

The paper, available on the US House of Representatives site, and called Politics and Science in the Bush Administration, was produced at the request of representative Henry Waxman, and purports to "find numerous instances where the Administration has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings".

The paper also claims that the administration's alleged "political interference with science" has led to misleading statements by president George W. Bush, inaccurate responses to Congress, altered web sites, suppressed agency reports, and "gagged" scientists, with beneficiaries of the "scientific distortions" supporters of the President, including "social conservatives and powerful industry groups".