Bush: al Qaeda Wasn’t In Iraq Before War? So What?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in al Qaeda, Bush, History, VideoHe continues to deliver shock and awe.
I honestly don’t think he meant to say that because the administration said time and time again that al Qaeda was in Iraq and that they had operational ties to Saddam and since they were the group responsible for 9/11, well, we could go there.
Because remember…what if Saddam gives al Qaeda WMDs and they use them against us? We don’t want the smoking gun to come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
Folks, Bush may have been thinking about our safety, but the guy is clearly a liar. I don’t think that’s up for debate anymore. So many different reasons have been given and then contradicted at this point, that even his supporters can no longer credibly defend this doublespeak.
Only a little more than a month left…
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 and is filed under al Qaeda, Bush, History, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
To be fair, I don’t think the administration said that time and time again–in fact, I think only Dick Cheney said it–once.
However, that said, never underestimate the ability of his supporters to defend his credibility or anything else. I was at a gathering this past weekend and someone was trying to argue with me that George W Bush was a better commander in chief and his foreign policy decisions were far better than Obama’s will ever be due to W’s military experience before he was president.
I swear to God, I was struck speechless.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
“To be fair, I don’t think the administration said that time and time again–in fact, I think only Dick Cheney said it–once.” – gerryf
No, actually this assertion was espoused by several Bush administration senior officials, not just Cheney.
“A declassified report released yesterday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence revealed that U.S. intelligence analysts were strongly disputing the alleged links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda while senior Bush administration officials were publicly asserting those links to justify invading Iraq.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090800777.html
“I have acknowledged since September 2002 that there were ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq.” – Donald Rumsfeld
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/04/rumsfeld.iraq/index.html
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Al-Qaeda:
“QUESTION: Do you believe, because this is continually a subject of debate, that there was a link between al Qaeda and the regime of Saddam Hussein before the war? MS. RICE: Absolutely. . . . But we know that there was training of al Qaeda in chemical and perhaps biological warfare. We know that the Zarqawi was network out of there, this poisons network that was trying to spread poisons throughout . . . . And there was an Ansar al-Islam, which appears also to try to be operating in Iraq. So yes, the al Qaeda link was there.”
Source: Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/7/2003).
“Explanation This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship. This statement also failed to mention that Ansar al-Islam was based in the Kurdish area of Iraq beyond Saddam Hussein’s control.”
Truth is that this was a lie which the Bush administration pushed to justify the invasion of Iraq. By insinuating a tie between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda Bush and company wished to evoke the specter of 9/11, thus playing on the sympathies of that tragedy in order to conduct their illegal war with little or no political opposition. In other words, they lied! ALL of them.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I think many Americans would enjoy a chance to take a swipe (short of assassination, of course) at Bush, and jealous an Iraqi did it. Perhaps, Bush could install a dunking booth on his ranch to pay for his library.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:04 am
What? We were lied to? Bush is a liar? The President of the United States lied to us? Please….the shocking thing is that he’s never told us the truth about anything ever. It’s sick to admit it, but the only one who ever did tell the full truth throughout this travesty is bin Laden. Sure he’s a murdering evil bastard – but atleast he didn’t lie – he did everything he said he was going to do, and he even warned us before he did it. What’s the word to explain a situation that has never actually had an honest explanation (insanity)? The only question I have ever wanted answered is why the Republican Congress followed by the Democratic Congress allowed this White House administration of criminals to continue? It diminishes all Americans when no one has the political strength and independence in our system to actually do the right thing, follow the law, no equivocation, no sell out, no pay for play – just doing their GD job.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:56 am
This shouldn’t surprise many people. Part of the administration’s “strategery” was to create a magnet within the Middle East that could draw the attention and aggression of Islamic extremists, and to meet that aggression with trained military personnel rather than civilians in a couple of office buildings. Iraq was (is?) the path of least resistance to strike at the Great Satan, so why attack NYC or LA or Chicago or DC when it’s so much easier to kill civilians and a few Americans right next door. So even if AQ wasn’t there during Saddam’s reign of terror, they would certainly be drawn there, moths to a flame, once a strong American presence was installed.
I don’t know what’s more chilling–the above scenario being intentional or accidental. At any rate, 2011 will soon be upon us, and we’ll see what happens then.