Over and over and over again George Bush made statements implying that the terrorism of 9-11 was linked to Iraq. He did not dare come out and make such a statement explicitly. But you would have to be as dumb as a bag of hammers to believe that he did not push the association multiple times. The NY Times reported his statements and their implications.
"False Pretenses FOLLOWING 9/11, PRESIDENT BUSH AND SEVEN TOP OFFICIALS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION WAGED A CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN OF MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE THREAT POSED BY SADDAM HUSSEIN'S IRAQ.
By Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith January 23, 2008
President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.
On at least 532 separate occasions (in speeches, briefings, interviews, testimony, and the like), Bush and these three key officials, along with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan, stated unequivocally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (or was trying to produce or obtain them), links to Al Qaeda, or both. This concerted effort was the underpinning of the Bush administration's case for war.
It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to Al Qaeda. This was the conclusion of numerous bipartisan government investigations, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2004 and 2006), the 9/11 Commission, and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, whose "Duelfer Report" established that Saddam Hussein had terminated Iraq's nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to restart it.
In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003. Not surprisingly, the officials with the most opportunities to make speeches, grant media interviews, and otherwise frame the public debate also made the most false statements, according to this first-ever analysis of the entire body of prewar rhetoric." (From here.
"Bush administration officials were soon publicly linking the two. For example, on September 25, 2002, in response to a reporter's question, President Bush said: "They're both risks, they're both dangerous. The difference, of course, is that Al Qaeda likes to hijack governments. Saddam Hussein is a dictator of a government. Al Qaeda hides, Saddam doesn't, but the danger is, is that they work in concert. The danger is, is that Al Qaeda becomes an extension of Saddam's madness and his hatred and his capacity to extend weapons of mass destruction around the world."" (Ibid)
"Paul [Kurtz] was the most open-minded person on the staff, so I asked him to lead the special project to get the departments and agencies to once again look for a bin Laden link to Saddam Hussein. He chaired a meeting the next day [September 13] to develop an official position on the relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. All agencies and departments agreed, there was no cooperation between the two. A memorandum to that effect was sent up to the president, but there was never any indication that it reached him."
SOURCE: Richard A. Clarke, Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror (New York: Free Press, 2004), page 33.
It is difficult to know whether the tone and substance of this week's administration statements reflect genuine doubt, based on investigative evidence, about Iraqi involvement in either the September 11 attacks or anthrax, or are primarily a reflection of concern about the anxiety the Iraq speculation is causing. Senior officials have been increasingly close-mouthed about whatever plans they may have for Baghdad, even as many outside the administration have become more vocal in their insistence that Iraq is the ultimate culprit and must be stopped.
Chief among the latter has been former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, who has insisted there are proven links between bin Laden and Iraq dating at least to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. As to the September 11 perpetrators, Woolsey said in a speech Monday night, "There are too many things, too many examples of stolen identities, of cleverly crafted documentation, of coordination across continents and between states . . . to stray very far from the conclusion that a state, and a very well-run intelligence service, is involved here."
SOURCE: Karen DeYoung and Rick Weiss, "U.S. Seems To Ease Rhetoric On Iraq; Officials Urge Wait and See on Anthrax," The Washington Post, October 24, 2001.
James Woolsey: One question that was stated was: Should we use the war against terrorism to get Saddam? To my mind, this is something parallel to asking: Should we, as of December 7, 1941, use the war against fascism to get Hitler?
We have here, for all practical purposes, what is a declared war on the United States, some portions of it silently and some portions of it openly, particularly now, after the bin Laden tape of today, a sort of combination of Hitlers and Torquemadas, who have moved against Western civilization, against civilization period, and against the United States. And there are various facets and aspects of this question. But the first and, I think, most important point is: The way you ask the question is going to determine the answer.
If you ask the question, could we prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law that Iraq was behind and directing the attacks of September 11th or the anthrax, then the answer is likely to be no. And if that is your decision criterion, if thats the question you ask, you may decide that you dont think we need to anything with Iraq.
If you ask a different question, is it clearly demonstrable to any reasonable person that Iraq has been substantially engaged in terrorism against the West, and the United States in particular, over the course of the last decade, that there is a reasonable chance that they were involved in September 11th and the anthrax, that they are developing weapons of mass destruction, particularly biological and nuclear in order to terrorize their neighbors, I would submit the answer to that question is a clear yes. And there is probably not much dispute about it.
So the answer you get is going to depend, in part, on the question you ask. Now, lets go through a couple of these one at a time.
SOURCE: Cato Institute Policy Forum, "Should the United States Go to War With Iraq?," December 13, 2001.
MARCH 18, 2002 Iraq, Al Qaeda Run Extremist Group In Kurdish Territory; Guerrillas Linked to bin Laden Camps
A new report in The New Yorker magazine suggests that Iraqi intelligence has been in close touch with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda group for years, and that the two run a jointly-operated terrorist organization in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq. A hawkish faction within the Bush administration that favors military action against Iraq, centered mostly in the top ranks of the Defense Department, has scoured the world for such Hussein–Al Qaeda connections. Yesterday some people in this camp hailed The New Yorker article as significant new evidence for their viewpoint.
SOURCE: John Mintz, "Iraq, Al Qaeda Run Extremist Group In Kurdish Territory; Guerrillas Linked to Bin Laden Camps," The Washington Post, final edition, page A12.
Question: We can go back to that in a minute. I have another question. Yesterday in the briefing, you said that the information you have has said Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked about linkages between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein this morning. He said very definitively that, yes, he believes there are. And then the president said, talking about Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, the danger is that they work in concert. Is the president saying that they are working in concert, that there is a relationship? Do you have evidence that supports that?
Mr. Fleischer: No, the president is saying that's the danger. The president has repeatedly said that the worst thing that could happen is for people—the world's worst dictators with the world's worst weapons of mass destruction to work in concert with terrorists such as Al Qaeda, who have shown an ability to attack the United States. And that's what the president has said.
Question: So why—when Rumsfeld was saying, yes, there is a linkage between the two, what is he talking about?
Mr. Fleischer: Clearly, Al Qaeda is operating inside Iraq. And the point is, in the shadowy world of terrorism, sometimes there is no precise way to have definitive information until it is too late. And we've seen that in the past. And so the risk is that Al Qaeda operating in Iraq does present a security threat, and it's cause for concern. And I think it's very understandably so. If you're searching, Campbell, again, for the smoking gun, again I say what Secretary Rumsfeld said—the problem with smoking guns is they only smoke after they're fired.
Question: I'm not looking for a smoking gun. I'm just trying to figure out how you make that conclusion, because the British, the Russians, people on the Hill that you all have briefed about all this stuff, say that there isn't a linkage, that they don't believe that Al Qaeda is there working in conjunction in any way with Saddam Hussein. And there is a mountain of comments, both public and private statements that Osama bin Laden has made about Saddam, calling him a bad Muslim, suggesting that there would be no way that the two would ever connect. So I just—if there's something, if you have some evidence that supports this, I'm just wondering why—
Mr. Fleischer: What supports what I just said is that the president fears that the two can get together. That's what the president has said, and that's one of the reasons that he feels so strongly about the importance of fighting the war on terror.
SOURCE: Office of the White House Press Secretary, press briefing by Ari Fleischer, September 25, 2002.
EPTEMBER 27, 2002 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: Link Between Iraq and Al Qaeda "Not Debatable"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said this morning the link between Al Qaeda terrorists and Iraq is "accurate and not debatable." Rumsfeld traveled here to discuss the ongoing war on terrorism and the threat Iraq poses to the United States and its allies.
The secretary declined to give more details on the ties between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. He said he does not want to give away intelligence information that may help the enemy.
Rumsfeld said he is not here to sell war with Iraq to the American people, noting that President Bush has made no decision on possible military action.
However, Rumsfeld said in interviews with local television stations, the president is pushing ahead with Congress on a resolution on Iraq. In addition, the president and Secretary of State Colin Powell are working with the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution that calls on Iraq to disarm and live up to 16 U.N. resolutions in place after the Persian Gulf War.
SOURCE: Jim Garamone, "Rumsfeld Says Link Between Iraq, Al Qaeda 'Not Debatable'" American Forces Press Service, September 27, 2002.
OCTOBER 24, 2002 A CIA Rival: Pentagon Sets Up Intelligence Unit
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his senior advisers have assigned a small intelligence unit to search for information on Iraq's hostile intentions or links to terrorists that the nation's spy agencies may have overlooked, Pentagon officials said today. Some officials say the creation of the team reflects frustration on the part of Mr. Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz and other senior officials that they are not receiving undiluted information on the capacities of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq and his suspected ties to terrorist organizations. But officials who disagree say the top civilian policy makers are intent on politicizing intelligence to fit their hawkish views on Iraq. In particular, many in the intelligence agencies disagree that Mr. Hussein can be directly linked to Osama bin Laden and his network, Al Qaeda, or that the two are likely to make common cause against the United States. In addition, the view among even some senior intelligence analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency is that Mr. Hussein is contained and is unlikely to unleash weapons of mass destruction unless he is attacked. But Mr. Rumsfeld's inner circle of advisers view Mr. Hussein's record, which includes aggression against Kuwait and the use of poison gas against his people, as much more alarming, and they are not willing to risk leaving him in power. They cite numerous intelligence findings indicating links between the Iraq and senior Al Qaeda leaders. The four-–to five–person intelligence team was established by Douglas J. Feith, the under secretary of defense for policy and another strong advocate for military action against Mr. Hussein. It was formed not long after the Sept. 11 attacks to take on special assignments in the global war on terror.
The team's specialty is using powerful computers and new software to scan and sort documents and reports from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies. The team's current task, described by one official as "data mining," is to glean individual details that may collectively point to Iraq's wider connections to terrorism, but which may have been obscured by formal assessments that play down the overall Iraqi threat.
SOURCE: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, "Threats And Responses: A CIA Rival; Pentagon Sets Up Intelligence Unit," The New York Times, October 24, 2002.
FEBRUARY 1, 2003 Split at CIA and FBI on Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda
The Bush administration's efforts to build a case for war against Iraq using intelligence to link it to Al Qaeda and the development of prohibited weapons has created friction within United States intelligence agencies, government officials said.
Some analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency have complained that senior administration officials have exaggerated the significance of some intelligence reports about Iraq, particularly about its possible links to terrorism, in order to strengthen their political argument for war, government officials said.
At the Federal Bureau of Investigation, some investigators said they were baffled by the Bush administration's insistence on a solid link between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network. "We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there," a government official said.
The tension within the intelligence agencies comes as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is poised to go before the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to present evidence of Iraq's links to terrorism and its continuing efforts to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
A senior administration official said discussions in preparation for Mr. Powell's presentation were intense, but not rancorous, and said there was little dissension among President Bush's top advisers about the fundamental nature of President Saddam Hussein's government. "I haven't detected anyone who thinks this a not compelling case," the official said.
Mr. Bush asserted in his State of the Union address this week that Iraq was protecting and aiding Qaeda operatives, but American intelligence and law enforcement officials said the evidence was fragmentary and inconclusive.
"It's more than just skepticism," said one official, describing the feelings of some analysts in the intelligence agencies. "I think there is also a sense of disappointment with the community's leadership that they are not standing up for them at a time when the intelligence is obviously being politicized."
In demonstrating that there are links between Iraq and Al Qaeda, Mr. Powell is expected to focus on intelligence about possible connections between Mr. Hussein, an Islamic militant group that may have produced poisons in a remote region of northern Iraq and a Qaeda terrorist leader, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Much of the intelligence has been publicly known for months.
SOURCE: James Risen and David Johnston, "Threats and Responses: Terror Links; Split At CIA and FBI on Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda," The New York Times, February 2, 2003, late edition, page 13.
"ut what I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more sinister nexus between Iraq and the Al Qaeda terrorist network, a nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of murder. Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, an associated in collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants....raqi officials deny accusations of ties with Al Qaeda. These denials are simply not credible. Last year an Al Qaeda associate bragged that the situation in Iraq was, quote, "good," that Baghdad could be transited quickly.
[text omitted]
Last year, two suspected Al Qaeda operatives were arrested crossing from Iraq into Saudi Arabia. They were linked to associates of the Baghdad cell, and one of them received training in Afghanistan on how to use cyanide. From his terrorist network in Iraq, Zarqawi can direct his network in the Middle East and beyond.
[text omitted]
We are not surprised that Iraq is harboring Zarqawi and his subordinates. This understanding builds on decades long experience with respect to ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda. " The support that (inaudible) describes included Iraq offering chemical or biological weapons training for two Al Qaeda associates beginning in December 2000. He says that a militant known as Abu Abdula Al-Iraqi (ph) had been sent to Iraq several times between 1997 and 2000 for help in acquiring poisons and gases. Abdula Al-Iraqi (ph) characterized the relationship he forged with Iraqi officials as successful.
SOURCE: Office of the White House Press Secretary, address by Colin Powell, February 5, 2003.
Question: Ari, given—on this bin Laden message—and to some extent we understand that it will deal with some comments or an address he would make to the Iraqi people about their condition, if that's correct, what does the president conclude about that?
Mr. Fleischer: Well, based on what Secretary Powell has said, it gives rise to concern about the ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq.
[text omitted]
Question: Yes, on that same point, on the bin Laden tape, if I remember correctly, Secretary Powell said—made a reference to the fact that the tape, according to his information, was going to say from this person who purports to be bin Laden that he is in partnership with Iraq. If, indeed, that is the phrase that this individual uses, what does the U.S. make of such a statement? And how is that likely to play into the U.N. debate?
Mr. Fleischer: Just as I indicated earlier, it gives great concern about the fact that Iraq and Al Qaeda are working together. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030211-3.html
SOURCE: Office of the White House Press Secretary, press briefing by Ari Fleischer, February 11, 2003.
Mr. Chairman, last year—in the wake of the September 11 attack on our country—I focused my remarks on the clear and present danger posed by terrorists who seek to destroy who we are and what we stand for. The national security environment that exists today is significantly more complex than that of a year ago. . . .
Iraq is harboring senior members of a terrorist network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a close associate of Osama bin Laden. We know Zarqawi's network was behind the poison plots in Europe that I discussed earlier as well as the assassination of a U.S. State Department employee in Jordan.
Iraq has in the past provided training in document forgery and bomb-making to Al Qaeda. It also provided training in poisons and gasses to two Al Qaeda associates; one of these associates characterized the relationship he forged with Iraqi officials as successful.
Mr. Chairman, this information is based on a solid foundation of intelligence. It comes to us from credible and reliable sources. Much of it is corroborated by multiple sources. And it is consistent with the pattern of denial and deception exhibited by Saddam Hussein over the past 12 years.
SOURCE: George Tenet, address to the Senate Armed Service Committee, CNN, February 12, 2003.
uestion: One on Iraq and one on North Korea. The German government today said that it finds the tape of bin Laden disturbing and sobering, but it says there's absolutely no proof in that tape of any connection between bin Laden and the government of Iraq, just statements of support for the Iraqi people if there's a war. Is that proof that you have a tough sell still?
Mr. Fleischer: Well, I think it just shows that Germany, which is unalterably opposed to the use of force, will still be in denial about Osama bin Laden's links to Iraq. Given the fact, especially as Secretary Powell demonstrated that we know that there are operatives of Al Qaeda operating inside Baghdad, and now we have an exhortation from Osama bin Laden on this tape to people inside Iraq—as he calls them, the Mujahideen brotherhood, or brothers—this is more proof that not only are there ties at the operational level, but now if you are operating inside Iraq and you hear Osama bin Laden exhorting you onward, your message is, as Osama bin Laden said in the tape, himself, Mujahideen brothers, he said, so it is the duty of all Muslims, particularly in Iraq, to roll up their sleeves and prepare for Jihad. And he said, it will not hurt under these circumstances if the interests of Muslims will meet with the socialists in fighting the crusaders. The socialist he refers to is Saddam Hussein.
So it's incomprehensible in its denial for anybody to interpret the phrase, it will not hurt under these circumstances if the interests of the Muslims will meet with the socialists in fighting the crusaders. The interests of the Muslims meet with Saddam Hussein, that is linkage.
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This is only some of the available evidence. Do the rest of your homework yourself.