Condoleezza Rice was a member of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), established in August 2002 to sell the Iraq War to Congress and the American public. The group was chaired by Andrew Card (White House Chief of Staff) and included Karl Rove, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, Stephen Hadley, and Rice. WHIG coordinated the administration's messaging on Iraq's alleged WMD programs, including the 'mushroom cloud' rhetoric. On September 8, 2002 — in a coordinated media blitz — Rice appeared on CNN and stated 'We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud,' while Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell appeared on other Sunday shows. The 'mushroom cloud' line was originally created by a Bush speechwriter for WHIG. This coordinated campaign amplified contested intelligence about aluminum tubes and alleged nuclear programs to build the case for invasion.

WHIG members -- Rove, Libby, Card, Rice, Hadley, Matalin -- coordinated the September 8, 2002 media blitz where officials cited the Miller-Gordon aluminum tubes story on five Sunday shows simultaneously. Scott McClellan later wrote WHIG pursued 'a political propaganda campaign to sell the war' where 'caveats and qualifications were downplayed.'