http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/567/567p20.htm

"On January 4, while addressing British troops in Basra, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair attempted to defend his government's participation
in the US-led war against Iraq. In an embarrassing Freudian slip,
Blair referred to "weapons of mass distraction" as the justification
for the illegal war."

I have another explanation. Bush loves goofy nicknames for things.
That was his and Blair's private term for WMD.

I do several TV spots a week. I memorise them beforehand then do them
in one take. One thing I marvel at after I am done, is seeing how do
I say things so close to how I practice them. I just get on
automatic, and everything naturally just rolls out along the
accustomed ways of speaking. Often my mind is wandering all over the
map away from what I am actually saying from the stress of being on
camera.

Blair made this mistake more than once in his speech because that is
his ACCUSTOMED term for them. It was not just a Freudian slip.

--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
Coaching, problem solving, economical contract programming.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jgloss.html for The Java Glossary.